Identifying Persistent and Mobile Substances with the SIN List

The Substitute It Now! (SIN) List is an early-warning phase-out list of chemicals that, according to the non-governmental organisation ChemSec, meet the regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) criteria for substances of very high concern (SVHC). In October 2025, the SIN List was updated with 18 new persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT) and very persistent and very mobile (vPvM) entries as part of the Zero Pollution of Persistent, Mobile Substances (ZeroPM) project.

Persistent and mobile substances threaten water resources, including drinking water, as their continued release leads to an increase in contamination. In 2023, the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulation introduced PMT/vPvM as new hazard classes. This development represents an important initial step towards acknowledging the urgency of regulating chemicals that contribute to water resource contamination. The current inclusion of 53 PMT/vPvM entries on the SIN List further substantiates this urgency and provides industry and other stakeholders with a relevant tool for chemical substitution.

The PMT/vPvM substances were assessed through a weight-of-evidence approach based on the CLP criteria. Data were retrieved from REACH registration dossiers, other authorities’ publicly available sources, and scientific literature.

The new SIN List entries have a variety of characteristics, both in terms of chemical groups (mainly nitrogen compounds, but also halogenated, aromatic and heterocyclic compounds, and hydrazines), and production volumes (from ? 1 to < 10 tonnes per annum for dichlorodifluoromethane, to exceeding 10 000 tonnes per annum for 1,3-dioxolane, acryloyldimethyltaurates (AMPSA), cyanoguanidine, cyanuric chloride and methenamine). The substances are in both industrial and consumer use. Some have very specific technical functions (i.e. benzotriazoles and methylated benzotriazoles are anti-corrosion agents) while others are more versatile and can have multiple functions (e.g. methenamine, cyanoguanidine).

The full list of PMT/vPvM entries can be found on the SIN List (https://sinsearch.chemsec.org/).