CJEU rules TiO 2 not carcinogenic
CJEU rules TiO 2 not carcinogenic
The Court of Justice of the European Union( CJEU) has upheld a ruling of the General Court of the European Union in November 2022, annulling an earlier decision to classify TiO 2 as a carcinogen. This should remove any danger of the white pigment being restricted under REACH in the foreseeable future.
In 2016, France’ s National Agency for Food, Environmental & Occupational Health & Safety and the European Chemicals Agency( ECHA) proposed classifying TiO 2 as a human carcinogen by inhalation. ECHA’ s Risk Assessment Committee( RAC) adopted an Opinion in 2017 that this was justified.
Based on the RAC ruling, the European Commission adopted a regulation in 2019 proceeding with the classification and labelling. Effects were suspected from TiO 2 in powder form with ≥1 % of particles having a diameter of ≤10 μm.
Manufacturers, importers, downstream users and suppliers joined to challenge this. The General Court found that the RAC“ had committed a manifest error in its assessment of the acceptability and reliability of a scientific study on which the classification had been based”.
France and the EC then appealed to the CJEU. The CJEU has now ruled that, even though the General Court had exceeded the limits of its judicial review, the annulment was justified and that the Court had been justified in its finding.
Merck exits pigments, signs Tata deal
Merck KGaA has closed the divestment of its global Surface Solutions business to Global New Material International Holdings( GNMI), following approval by all relevant regulatory authorities and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. GNMI is rebranding it as Susonity.
The acquired business, which is one of the world’ s largest manufacturers of pearlescent pigments, had sales of over than € 400 million in 2024 and around 1,100 employees, more than 600 of whom are based in Germany.
GNMI has guaranteed the future of the Gernsheim site, which Merck still owns, and the employment of its staff based in Germany until 2032. Other sites being transferred are at Savannah, Georgia, and Onahama, Japan. The GreenTech- Park Fluxum in Gernsheim is not affected by the divestment.
Merck, the last remaining chemicals-pharmaceutical hybrid firm, will use the proceeds of € 665 million to strengthen its strategic core businesses in pharmaceuticals and electronics. It has recently made a series of acquisitions, including SpringWorks Therapeutics, HUB Organoids, Unity- SC and Mirus Bio.
Symptomatic of this focus, Merck subsequently signed a memorandum of understanding with India’ s Tata Electronics to jointly develop capabilities in semiconductor materials, semiconductor fabrication infrastructure, and speciality chemical and gas distribution in India.
It will offer a its full range of products and services in the field for the $ 11 billion semiconductor‘ fab’ Tata is building in Dholera, Gujarat state, the first of its kind in India. The partnership also encompasses localised warehousing, raw material supply chain development, and the establishment of industry processes and standards in India.
State governor Phil Murphy has officially inaugurated Enzene’ s $ 50 million, 7,400 m 2 biomanufacturing facility at Hopewell, New Jersey. As well as fed-batch drug substance, this will use the Indian firm’ s modular EnzeneX 2.0 platform. This is claimed to be the world’ s first‘ fully-connected continuous manufacturing’ platform, using optimised cell media and process analytical technology to achieve a tenfold increase on the yield of conventional biomanufacturing and reduce the cost of goods to $ 40 / gram.
10 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981