EN 1811:2011+A1:2015, an amendment to EN 1811:2011, has become effect on August, 31th, 2015. The new standard will replace the old version fully at the latest by January 2016. Compared to the old, the new standard has simplified the determination for results and it will make it easier to assess products for compliance with the REACH Annex XVII requirements for nickel release.
The old standard EN 1811:2011 has three categories of results: ‘compliant, non-compliant and no clear decision.’ The ‘no clear decision’ for results which were situated around the limit compliance requirement of the Directive created a level of ambiguity for results in this ‘no decision’ range.
The new amendment EN 1811:2011+A1:2015 has removed the ‘no decision’ category. It provides a ‘PASS’ compliance level of less than 0.88μg/cm2/week for articles intended to come into prolonged and direct contact with the skin, and 0.35μg/cm2/week for post assemblies. It provides a much simpler reporting process of results for suppliers, manufacturers and retailers testing to the nickel release standard. Laboratories will be able to provide results reported as either ‘compliant’ or ‘non-compliant’ or ‘PASS’ and ‘FAIL’.
For details, you can see the table below:
The Comparison of Old and New versions |
Metal Components | Results(D) (μg/cm2/week) | Old Standard EN 1811:2011 | New Standard EN 1811:2011+A1:2015 |
Body piercings | D≤0.11 | Pass | Pass |
0.11<D<0.35 | No Clear Decision |
D≥0.35 | Fail | Fail |
Other components in direct and prolonged contact with the skin | Data≤0.28 | Pass | Pass |
0.28<D<0.88 | No Clear Decision |
Data≥0.88 | Fail | Fail |