EUROPEAN UNION REACH REGULATION
REACH is the European community regulation on chemicals and their safe use
It deals with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances. The law entered into force on 1 June 2007. The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances. At the same time, REACH aims to enhance innovation and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH.
The REACH Regulation places greater responsibility on industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. Manufacturers and importers are required to gather information on the properties of their chemical substances, which will allow their safe handling, and to register the information in a central database run by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki. The Agency acts as the central point in the REACH system: it manages the databases necessary to operate the system, co-ordinates the in-depth evaluation of suspicious chemicals and is building up a public database in which consumers and professionals can find hazard information.
GEMTEK® is proud to have four of its SAFE CARE® products pre-registered under REACH:
SC-1000 Aqueous Cleaner
SC-Aircraft & Metal Cleaner
SC-SuperSolv Safety Solvent
SC-OmniBrite Acid Cleaner
USDA BIOPREFERRED PROGRAM
BioPreferred® program was created by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (2002 Farm Bill), and expanded by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill).
BIOPREFERRED INCLUDES:
A preferred procurement program for Federal agencies and their contractors, and a voluntary labeling program for the broad scale consumer marketing of biobased products.
Under the procurement program, BioPreferred designates categories of biobased products that are required for purchase by Federal agencies and their contractors. While several SAFE CARE products are listed with the BioPreferred Program, you will need to search under a specific category, such as Operations & Maintenance:
For more information on the future of biobased products you can download of copy of the following report produced by the United States Department of Agriculture: Office of the Chief Economist, Office of Energy Policy and New Uses
U.S. Biobased Products – Market Potential and Projects Through 2025
USEPA DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM
BioPreferred® program was created by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (2002 Farm Bill), and expanded by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill).
When you see the Design for the Environment (DfE) logo, it means that the USEPA’s DfE review team has screened each ingredient in the product for potential human health and environmental effects and that–based on currently available information, predictive models, and expert judgment–the product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class. For example, if a DfE-recognized product contains a surfactant, then that surfactant will biodegrade readily to non-polluting byproducts; many surfactants in conventional products biodegrade slowly or biodegrade to more toxic and persistent byproducts, which threaten aquatic life.
EPA/DfE recognition does not constitute endorsement of these products. The Design for the Environment logo signifies that the formulations for these products, as GEMTEK® Products has represented it to the EPA, contains ingredients with more positive health and environmental characteristics than conventional cleaners. EPA/DfE relies solely on GEMTEK® Products, its integrity and good faith, for information on the composition, ingredients, and attributes of these products. EPA/DfE has not independently identified, i.e., via chemical analysis, the ingredients in the product formula, nor evaluated any of GEMTEK® Products’ non-ingredient claims. EPA/DfE provides its evaluation only as to the environmental and human health characteristics of the product, based on currently available information and scientific understanding.
CALIFORNIA SOUTH COAST AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was adopted in 1970 to inform government decision-makers and the public about potential environmental problems and to offer alternatives. The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) is responsible for preparing and administering Environmental Impact Reports as it relates to air quality. One of these programs includes qualifying chemical products. GEMTEK® is pleased to have two of its core SAFE CARE® formulations approved as a Clean Air Solvent including:
SC-1000 Aqueous Cleaner Concentrate
SC-Aircraft & Metal Cleaner