What does adding these two new substances on the REACH Candidate list really mean for you?

On 4 February 2026, the European Chemicals Agency added two substances to the REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern.

When companies see an announcement like this, the first reaction is often worry. The second is confusion.

So let’s slow this down and explain what actually happened, what it means in practice, and what you may need to do next.

What happened?

ECHA added the following substances to the REACH Candidate List:

 These substances are used in areas such as formulation, polymer processing, coatings, cleaning agents, and chemical process regulation.

With this update, the Candidate List now contains 253 entries. Some entries cover groups of substances, which means the number of affected chemicals in practice is even higher.

Why these substances were added

Substances are added to the Candidate List when they meet specific hazard criteria defined in the REACH Regulation.

In this case:

• n-hexane was added because repeated exposure can damage organs
• the second substance was added because it is toxic for reproduction

There is no subjective judgement involved here. These classifications are based on hazard criteria laid down directly in REACH.

If you want to understand these criteria in more detail and how they are applied, this ECHA page is a good starting point.

Candidate List does not mean ban

This is one of the most important points to understand.

Being on the Candidate List does not mean that a substance is banned. Companies can still manufacture it, import it, use it, and place it on the market.

What does change is the level of responsibility.

Once a substance is on the Candidate List, companies must meet additional legal obligations related to communication, documentation, and transparency.

Another important aspect is that Candidate List substances may later be added to the Authorisation List. If that happens, continued use is only possible if the European Commission grants authorisation for specific uses.

In simple terms, the Candidate List is an early warning system.

What you need to do now

The obligations depend on how the substance appears in your products.

You must update your Safety Data Sheets to reflect the new SVHC status if you supply substances or mixtures. This update should be done without delay.

Now, if you place articles on the EU or EEA market and they contain more than 0.1 percent of one of these substances, then several obligations apply at the same time.

First, you must inform professional customers automatically about the presence of the SVHC and how to use the article safely.

Second, consumers have the right to ask whether a product contains SVHCs, and you must respond within 45 days.

Third, you must submit a SCIP notification to ECHA under the Waste Framework Directive. More details on SCIP can be found here.

ECHA notification deadline

If you produce or import articles containing these substances above 0.1 percent by weight, you must notify ECHA under REACH regulation.

Because the substances were added on 4 February 2026, the notification deadline is 4 August 2026.

What do proactive companies do next?

Companies that handle this well, usually do a few things early.

They review their product portfolios and supply chains. They ask suppliers for updated Safety Data Sheets and SVHC confirmations. They prepare SCIP notifications instead of postponing them. They consider substitution options long before authorisation becomes a real issue. Most importantly, they act early rather than reacting under time pressure.

My one sentence takeaway

These two substances are now officially flagged as high risk in the EU, which triggers information, notification, and documentation duties immediately, with a hard ECHA notification deadline of 4 August 2026 and the possibility of further restrictions in the future.

If you need help with chemical regulatory challanges and you don't have the time to do it yourselves it may be time you contact me at luka.rifelj@bens-consulting.eu.