This report discusses the requirements of the REACH regulation for the automotive industry, which includes the need for a chemical safety assessment and risk characterization for substances classified as dangerous, vPvB or PBT. The life cycle of the substance, including manufacturing, formulation, service life, end use and waste stage, must be considered in the assessment. The automotive industry faces a significant challenge in implementing these requirements due to the complexity and size of the supply chain and the large number of substances to be registered. To address this challenge, the industry recommends the adoption of a common approach for exchanging information on uses by manufacturers and downstream users when building exposure scenarios. The use of a substance should be identified within an exposure scenario and supported by the manufacturer or importer. Car manufacturers and tier one suppliers will not respond to company-specific questionnaires but require a pre-populated spreadsheet for exposure scenario assessments.
