Potential shortages of disinfectants, other than hand and surface sanitisers, could trigger another wave of legal exemptions in Europe, regulators have said.
Speaking at the Chemical Watch webinar, Covid-19 related derogations under the EU’s biocidal products Regulation (BPR), Olivier Gras from the French Ministry for Ecology said the authority is seeing growing demand for some materials disinfectants and other biocidal products.
The ministry has had a request for an exemption from the BPR authorisation requirements for biocidal products used to sanitise face masks for their reuse, said Mr Gras, who heads the ministry’s office of chemical products.
And it has already decided to grant a derogation for Biobor JF, a biocidal product for the preservation of aircraft fuel.
Leaving aircraft unused for long periods of time increases the risk of oil-degrading microorganisms contaminating the fuel tank – a risk that has increased with the reduction in global air traffic caused by the pandemic.
Other member states, such as Germany and Sweden, have granted the same derogation. And Echa is in talks with the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) and the European Commission on how to meet the increased demand for aircraft fuel additives, the agency’s Hugues Kenigswald told the webinar.
As it stands, exemptions from the BPR’s legal requirements in Europe have centred primarily on hand sanitisers and some surface disinfectants. France, for instance, has issued one ministerial decree covering hand sanitisers with four formulations, based on ethanol or propan-2-ol. The derogation is due to end on 1 September.
France has not given any legal exemptions to products falling under the BPR’s product-types two (disinfectants and algaecides not intended for direct application to humans or animals) or four (food and feed area).
But Mr Gras said regulators should "anticipate and be reactive to respond to new potential shortages ... We know the market is tense and we are monitoring the situation closely."
Evolving demand
Meanwhile, the European Commission is holding weekly meetings with Cefic sector group, the European Biocidal Products Forum (EBPF) and cleaning products trade body, Aise, to monitor evolving supply issues in the biocides sector.
Head of the Commission’s pesticides and biocides unit, Klaus Berend told the webinar that the supply and demand for hand disinfectants is "returning to balance".
But the regulators and industry are keeping a close eye on how demand for disinfectants develops as the bloc begins to ease lockdown measures.
The European Commission’s roadmap to lifting coronavirus containment measures notes a reliance on "intensified and regular cleaning and disinfection of transport hubs and vehicles, shops and workplaces, instead of entirely prohibiting services, and provision of adequate measures or equipment to protect workers or customers".
Ian Watt, chair of the EBPF, said industry and regulators need to consider this when deciding on whether to introduce new legal exemptions or extend current derogations for disinfectants.
"We are now starting to look at how [the situation] will evolve as Europe comes out of lockdown and to a more mobile state that will require ongoing reliance and possibly an increased reliance on disinfection," Mr Watt said.
At the same time, Mr Gras said industry and authorities are beginning to ponder how to transition out of the derogations when they expire. This will involve informing disinfectant producers that are new to the BPR on what their legal obligations are when normal rules apply again, he said.