REGULATIONS  
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 494/2011  
of 20 May 2011  
amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the 
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) as regards Annex 
XVII (Cadmium)  
(Text with EEA relevance)  
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,  
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union,  
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 
2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation 
and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a 
European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC 
and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and 
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council 
Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 
93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (  1 ), and in particular 
Article 131 thereof,  
Whereas:  
(1) By its Resolution of 25 January 1988 on a Community 
action programme (  2 ) the Council invited the 
Commission to combat environmental pollution by 
cadmium.  
(2) In the table set out in Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 
1907/2006, entry 23 contains restrictions on the use and 
marketing of cadmium in mixtures and articles.  
(3) Cadmium and cadmium oxide are classified as carcinogen 
category 1B and aquatic acute and chronic toxicity 
category 1.  
(4) Since 31 December 1992, cadmium has been prohibited 
under Council Directive 76/769/EEC of 27 July 1976 on 
the approximation of the laws, regulations and adminis ­
trative provisions of the Member States relating to 
restrictions on the marketing and use of certain 
dangerous substances and preparations (  3 ) as a colouring agent in a number of polymers and paints, as a 
stabiliser in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in a number of 
applications, and cadmium plating is prohibited in a 
number of applications. Directive 76/769/EEC was 
repealed and replaced by Regulation (EC) No 
1907/2006 with effect from 1 June 2009.  
(5) In 2007 the European risk assessment on cadmium (  4 ) 
under Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 of 23 March 
1993 on the evaluation and control of the risks of 
existing substances (  5 ) was completed. On 14 June 
2008 the Commission published a Communication on 
the results of the risk evaluation and the risk reduction 
strategies for cadmium and cadmium oxide (  6 ) which 
recommended a marketing and use restriction for 
cadmium in brazing sticks and jewellery.  
(6) The Communication outlined the need for specific 
measures to limit the risks from the use of cadmium- 
containing brazing sticks and from wearing cadmium- 
containing jewellery. Professionals and hobbyists are 
exposed to fumes in the process of brazing. Consumers 
including children are exposed to cadmium in jewellery 
through skin contact or licking.  
(7) The Commission has commissioned a study on Socio- 
Economic Impact of a Potential Update of the 
Restrictions on the Marketing and Use of Cadmium in 
jewelleries, brazing alloys and PVC. The results of the 
study were published in January 2010 (  7 ). 
(8) The existing provisions concerning paint containing zinc 
should be clarified to define high zinc content. Provisions 
concerning paint on painted articles should be also 
clarified.EN L 134/2 Official Journal of the European Union 21.5.2011  
( 1 ) OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1.  
( 2 ) OJ C 30, 4.2.1988, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 262, 27.9.1976, p. 201.  ( 4 ) http://ecb.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/Existing-chemicals/ RISK_ 
ASSESSMENT/REPORT/cdmetalreport303.pdf  
( 5 ) OJ L 84, 5.4.1993, p. 1.  
( 6 ) OJ C 149, 14.6.2008, p. 6.  
( 7 ) http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/chemicals/file s/markrestr/study- 
cadmium_en.pdf(9) Since 2001 the European PVC industry has taken the 
initiative on a voluntary basis to refrain from using 
cadmium as a stabiliser in newly produced PVC for 
those applications which were not yet regulated under 
Directive 76/769/EEC. This voluntary initiative eventually 
led to a phase out of the use of cadmium in PVC.  
(10) The prohibition of the use of cadmium should be 
extended to all articles made from PVC in order to 
comply with the objective of combating cadmium 
pollution.  
(11) A derogation for mixtures produced from PVC waste and 
referred to as ‘recovered PVC’ should be granted to allow 
their placing on the market for use in certain 
construction products.  
(12) The use of recovered PVC should be encouraged in the 
manufacture of certain construction products because it 
allows the reuse of old PVC, which may contain 
cadmium. Consequently a higher limit value for 
cadmium should be granted for these construction 
products. This avoids PVC being discarded in landfills 
or incinerated causing release of carbon dioxide and 
cadmium in the environment.  
(13) This Regulation should apply 6 months after the entry 
into force to allow operators to ensure compliance with 
the provisions of this Regulation.  (14) It is foreseen that due to the prohibition of cadmium in 
new PVC, the content of cadmium in construction 
products manufactured from recovered PVC should 
diminish gradually. Therefore, the limit value for 
cadmium should be reviewed accordingly and the 
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) should be involved 
in reviewing the restriction as provided for in Article 69 
of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.  
(15) In accordance with the provisions on transitional 
measures in Article 137(1)a of REACH it is necessary 
to amend Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.  
(16) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in 
accordance with the opinion of the Committee estab ­
lished under Article 133 of Regulation (EC) No 
1907/2006,  
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
Article 1  
Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 is amended in 
accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.  
Article 2  
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following 
its publication in the  Official Journal of the European Union . 
It shall apply from 10 January 2012.  
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.  
Done at Brussels, 20 May 2011.  
For the Commission  
The President  
José Manuel BARROSOEN 21.5.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 134/3ANNEX  
In Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, the table setting out the designation of the substances, groups of 
substances and mixtures and the conditions of restriction is amended as follows:  
1. in the second column of entry 23, paragraphs 1 to 4 are replaced by the following:  
‘1. Shall not be used in mixtures and articles produced from synthetic organic polymers 
(hereafter referred to as plastic material) such as: 
— polymers or copolymers of vinyl chloride (PVC) [3904 10] [3904 21] 
— polyurethane (PUR) [3909 50] 
— low-density polyethylene (LDPE), with the exception of low-density polyethylene 
used for the production of coloured masterbatch [3901 10] 
— cellulose acetate (CA) [3912 11] 
— cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) [3912 11] 
— epoxy resins [3907 30] 
— melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resins [3909 20] 
— urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins [3909 10] 
— unsaturated polyesters (UP) [3907 91] 
— polyethylene terephthalate (PET) [3907 60] 
— polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) 
— transparent/general-purpose polystyrene [3903 11] 
— acrylonitrile methylmethacrylate (AMMA) 
— cross-linked polyethylene (VPE) 
— high-impact polystyrene 
— polypropylene (PP) [3902 10] 
— high-density polyethylene (HDPE) [3901 20] 
— acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) [3903 30] 
— poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) [3906 10]. 
Mixtures and articles produced from plastic material shall not be placed on the 
market if the concentration of cadmium (expressed as Cd metal) is equal to or 
greater than 0,01 % by weight of the plastic material. 
By way of derogation, the second subparagraph shall not apply to articles placed on 
the market before 10 January 2012. 
The first and second subparagraphs apply without prejudice to Council Directive 
94/62/EC (*) and acts adopted on its basis. 
2. Shall not be used in paints [3208] [3209]. 
For paints with a zinc content exceeding 10 % by weight of the paint, the concen ­
tration of cadmium (expressed as Cd metal) shall not be equal to or greater than 
0,1 % by weight. 
Painted articles shall not be placed on the market if the concentration of cadmium 
(expressed as Cd metal) is equal to or greater than 0,1 % by weight of the paint on 
the painted article. 
3. By way of derogation, paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to articles coloured with 
mixtures containing cadmium for safety reasons. 
4. By way of derogation, paragraph 1, second subparagraph shall not apply to: 
— mixtures produced from PVC waste, hereinafter referred to as “recovered PVC”, 
— mixtures and articles containing recovered PVC if their concentration of 
cadmium (expressed as Cd metal) does not exceed 0,1 % by weight of the 
plastic material in the following rigid PVC applications: 
(a) profiles and rigid sheets for building applications; 
(b) doors, windows, shutters, walls, blinds, fences, and roof gutters;EN L 134/4 Official Journal of the European Union 21.5.2011(c) decks and terraces; 
(d) cable ducts; 
(e) pipes for non-drinking water if the recovered PVC is used in the middle layer 
of a multilayer pipe and is entirely covered with a layer of newly produced 
PVC in compliance with paragraph 1 above. 
Suppliers shall ensure, before the placing on the market of mixtures and articles 
containing recovered PVC for the first time, that these are visibly, legibly and 
indelibly marked as follows: “ Contains recovered PVC ” or with the following pictogram:
  
In accordance with Article 69 of this Regulation, the derogation granted in 
paragraph 4 will be reviewed, in particular with a view to reducing the limit 
value for cadmium and to reassess the derogation for the applications listed in 
points (a) to (e), by 31 December 2017.  
(*) OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10.’  
2. in the second column of entry 23, paragraphs 8, 9, 10 and 11 are added as follows:  
‘8. Shall not be used in brazing fillers in concentration equal to or greater than 0,01 % 
by weight. 
Brazing fillers shall not be placed on the market if the concentration of cadmium 
(expressed as Cd metal) is equal to or greater than 0,01 % by weight. 
For the purpose of this paragraph brazing shall mean a joining technique using 
alloys and undertaken at temperatures above 450 °C. 
9. By way of derogation, paragraph 8 shall not apply to brazing fillers used in defence 
and aerospace applications and to brazing fillers used for safety reasons. 
10. Shall not be used or placed on the market if the concentration is equal to or greater 
than 0,01 % by weight of the metal in: 
(i) metal beads and other metal components for jewellery making; 
(ii) metal parts of jewellery and imitation jewellery articles and hair accessories, 
including: 
— bracelets, necklaces and rings, 
— piercing jewellery, 
— wrist-watches and wrist-wear, 
— brooches and cufflinks. 
11. By way of derogation, paragraph 10 shall not apply to articles placed on the market 
before 10 January 2012 and jewellery more than 50 years old on 10 January 2012.’EN 21.5.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 134/5