REACH and RoHS are the two pillars of EU chemical compliance for physical products. REACH restricts hazardous chemicals in all articles, with a special focus on Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs); RoHS restricts ten named substances specifically in electrical and electronic equipment. This free checker maps your material types to the likely substance concerns and tells you which communication, notification and limit obligations apply. It is built for product, sourcing and compliance teams.
How it works
Under REACH, the Candidate List of SVHCs grows twice a year. If an article contains any listed SVHC above 0.1% w/w, two duties trigger: communicate safe-use information to recipients (and to consumers on request within 45 days), and submit a SCIP notification to ECHA. The checker flags materials that commonly carry SVHCs — for example PVC and flexible plastics for phthalates, solders and brass for lead, and treated textiles for certain perfluorinated compounds.
Under RoHS (2011/65/EU), if the product is electrical or electronic equipment, ten substances are capped in each homogeneous material: lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PBDE flame retardants, and the phthalates DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP are limited to 0.1%, while cadmium is limited to 0.01%. The tool applies these limits only when you mark the product as electrical, and reminds you that category-specific exemptions (e.g. lead in certain solders) may exist.
Notes and example
A PVC-jacketed power cable on a consumer electronics product is in scope for both regimes: REACH phthalate SVHC communication plus a SCIP notification if above 0.1%, and the RoHS phthalate and lead limits because it is electrical equipment. A solid stainless-steel kitchen utensil is a REACH article only, with low SVHC risk and no RoHS scope.
This checker uses generalised material-to-substance mappings; it cannot confirm actual concentrations, which require a supplier declaration or laboratory testing. Always obtain a full materials declaration. Everything is computed locally.
Common pitfalls and what to watch for
Phthalates in non-electrical products. Many compliance teams treat RoHS as electronics-only and miss that phthalates (DEHP, BBP, DBP, DIBP) are also REACH SVHCs — meaning a soft PVC toy or bag that never plugs into a wall still has REACH communication and potential SCIP obligations if phthalate content exceeds 0.1% w/w.
SCIP since 2021. The SCIP notification requirement under the EU Waste Framework Directive came into force on 5 January 2021. If your article contains a Candidate List SVHC above 0.1%, you must submit a SCIP dossier to the ECHA database before placing the article on the EU market. Some importers and distributors are still unaware that this applies to downstream operators, not just manufacturers.
Homogeneous material versus article. The RoHS limits (0.1% for most substances, 0.01% for cadmium) apply to each homogeneous material individually — meaning the smallest material that cannot be further mechanically divided. A wire has a copper core and a PVC jacket as separate homogeneous materials; each is assessed independently, not the wire as a whole.
REACH Candidate List updates. ECHA adds new SVHCs to the Candidate List roughly twice a year. Substances approved last year may not have been flagged by compliance reviews carried out the year before. It is good practice to re-screen your product portfolio with each Candidate List update rather than only at product launch.
Exemptions under RoHS. Certain uses of otherwise restricted substances are granted exemptions under Annex III and IV of Directive 2011/65/EU — for example, lead in certain solder alloys used in specific applications. Exemptions are time-limited and must be checked for expiry. This tool cannot assess whether an exemption applies; that requires reading the current Annex and matching to your specific application.
Who should use this tool
- Product designers choosing materials at the specification stage, to avoid introducing restricted substances before tooling is committed.
- Sourcing and procurement teams screening new suppliers or components, as a first-pass filter before requesting a full Material Disclosure.
- Compliance officers checking whether a product type triggers SCIP obligations when entering the EU market.
- Importers verifying whether their product’s material set is in scope for RoHS before CE marking.