ChemRegs Newsletter – July 2026

Engineered stone campaign

HSE has published new guidance on engineered stone and launched nationwide inspections as part of a major programme to tackle risks from silica dust. The dangers of working with engineered stone involves cutting, drilling, grinding or any method which creates dust when working with the stone. If the dust is inhaled, it can cause devastating lung diseases including silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.  

Silicosis is the oldest known occupational lung disease in human history, tied directly to stone working, flint knapping, and mining. Early physicians like Hippocrates noted breathing difficulties in metal miners, and Georgius Agricola in his Treatise on Mining, written in 1556, described a pulmonary disease affecting stonecutters and miners. Bernardino Ramazzini formally documented stonecutters’ lung disease in 1700, before the specific term “silicosis” was coined in 1870.

As recently as the 1930’s the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel disaster was a catastrophic industrial tragedy involving extreme silica dust exposure, and massive loss of life among vulnerable workers. Occurring between 1930 and 1932 in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, the project involved drilling a three-mile hydroelectric tunnel through the Gauley mountain on behalf of Union Carbide Corporation. Workers dry-drilled through solid, high-purity quartz sandstone, releasing dense clouds of toxic crystalline silica dust with almost no safety gear or ventilation. Out of the 3000 workers on site, official enquiries recorded at least 476 worker fatalities, but modern historical estimates suggest between 764 and over 1,000 workers died from acute and chronic silicosis most within weeks.

Engineered stone is widely used for kitchen worktops and bathroom vanity surfaces and can contain as much as 90% respirable crystalline silica (RCS).

The COSHH guidance for engineered stone sets out the latest guidance for employers:

• Switch to low silica engineered stone
• Use on-tool water suppression and control mist – no dry cutting
• Provide appropriate respiratory protective equipment (RPE)
• Carry out regular health surveillance

Research shows dry cutting can expose workers to 5-10 times more respirable crystalline silica (RCS) than wet methods.

HSE inspectors are aiming to carry out over 1,000 visits to fabricators across Great Britain throughout 2026, with enforcement action taken against those who fail to meet legal requirements. Several businesses have already received prohibition notices requiring them to stop work immediately and take steps to improve safety.

You can get more information from the HSE webpage on working with engineered stone and from the engineered stone campaign website.

EU Regulation 2026/405 on Detergents and Surfactants

Regulation (EU) 2026/405 on Detergents and Surfactants (the “New Detergents Regulation”) was published on 2 March 2026 in the EU, replacing the more than 20-year-old Detergents Regulation (EC 648/2004). It introduces new obligations and duties such as a Digital Product Passport; closes biodegradability loopholes; bans animal testing; and brings refill products and microbial cleaners, fully into scope.

The New Detergents Regulation entered into force in the EU on 22 March 2026 but fully comes into force on the 23 September 2029. It maintains the main functions of the Detergents Regulation (EC 648/2004) (the “2004 Detergents Regulation”) but addresses a number of identified areas for improvement and provides updates in response to market developments.

It applies as a directly binding regulation across all EU member states without national transposition. However, as with the 2004 Detergents Regulation, EU member states retain the ability to impose additional national requirements. This makes compliance across the EU more complicated than just having a single document.

Detergents are substances or mixtures containing soaps and/or surfactants (any organic substance/mixture) intended for washing and cleaning processes. This includes cleaning and washing mixtures, for example, domestic all-purpose cleaners or products for washing and cleaning surfaces, materials, products, machinery, mechanical appliances, instruments, and apparatus. This means the New Detergents Regulation applies to:

• Household detergents such as laundry, automatic dishwashing, hard surface, and general cleaning products.
• Industrial and institutional detergents.
• Surfactants used as ingredients in detergent products.
• Water-soluble packaging films used with detergents (e.g. laundry pods).
• Refill-format detergents — now explicitly in scope for the first time.
• Micro-organism based cleaning products — now brought into scope.

The New Detergents Regulation remains complementary to the general provisions applicable to chemicals, including the EU Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation, EU Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) and the EU REACH Regulation.

The main differences between the 2004 Detergents Regulation and the New Detergents Regulation include:

Simplifying placement and free movement on the market by streamlining labelling and information requirements. These provisions reduce legislative overlap with other labelling regulations such as EU CLP, avoiding the need in some cases for the same substances to appear more than once on the same label. The New Detergents Regulation increases the amount of information that can be communicated digitally which is consistent with wider EU policies concerned with digitalisation of chemical labelling.

Introducing new provisions for market surveillance of detergents to strengthen enforcement. This includes introducing a requirement to have a Digital Product Passport (DPP) that would be used for market surveillance and for customs controls for goods entering the EU market. The Digital Product Passport (DPP) will create a unique digital record for each product containing compliance, safety, and sustainability information. It also replaces the EU declaration of conformity as the primary mechanism for demonstrating compliance.

The DPP must be:

• Machine-readable, structured, and searchable i.e. a scannable data carrier (e.g. QR code) printed directly on product packaging or labels that can be read by a device
• Linked to a Unique Registration Identifier (URI).
• Registered in the EU Commission’s central registry.
• Declared at EU customs when imported products are presented at the border.
• Aligned with the technical standards of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).

More streamlined regulation. The duplicated requirement under CLP and in the 2004 Detergents Regulations to provide an ingredient data sheet for hazardous detergents has been abolished. The Digital Product Passport (DPP) effectively absorbs and replaces this function. The provision in the New Detergents Regulation for non-hazardous detergents is retained.

Non-EU manufacturers to appoint an authorised representative established in the EU. While the 2004 Detergents Regulation required that non-EU manufacturers appoint an importer within the EU for the purposes of compliance with those regulations, the new Regulation requires that non-EU manufacturers appoint an authorised representative established in the EU. While this is in principle a new role, the role of the authorised representative in holding technical information, engaging with market surveillance authorities and being accountable for products placed on the EU market, is very similar to the role previously undertaken by an importer. The non-EU manufacturer can appoint their importer to undertake the authorised representative role.

Banning animal testing. Only products developed using non-animal testing methods will be allowed in the EU internal market, aside from exceptional cases.

Refill sales will be permitted to provide almost all labelling information digitally.

Risk management measures to be taken and testing requirements for microbial cleaners are required. Technological advances in detergents such as microbial cleaners (cleaning products that use live bacteria and natural enzymes to digest organic dirt, grease etc) are now brought into scope.

Stricter standards of biodegradability of surfactants in detergents (in particular in films covering capsules) are introduced. The previous biodegradability derogations are no more, no exceptions are permitted for any surfactant under the new regulations.

The New Detergents Regulation leaves open the possibility to limit further the phosphorus content or add limitations of phosphorus content on other products categories. To assess this, the regulations set an obligation for the European Commission to report on this within 7 years. Other aspects of the New Detergents Regulations are also included within this review and reporting requirement.

Detergents classified as hazardous under the EU CLP Regulation, based on their health or physical hazard profile, must still be notified to EU poison centres.

The New Detergents Regulation has not been adopted in Great Britain (the retained 2004 Detergents Regulation still applies) but will apply in Northern Ireland (NI) under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement and Windsor Framework. These apply without the need for further legislation. However, domestic legislation is in place for control and enforcement measures (including criminal penalties) through the 2010 Detergents Regulations (SI 2010/740) and the UK Government will need to amend these regulations for NI.

For more information on anything in this Newsletter, please contact us at info@chemregs.co.uk