The National Environment Agency (NEA) will be controlling 11 new chemicals as Hazardous Substance (HS), under the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) and EPM (Hazardous Substances) Regulations, in accordance with Singapore’s obligations to the Stockholm Convention and Rotterdam Convention. The 11 new chemicals are as follows:
1) Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS – related compounds; 2) Pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds; 3) Acetochlor; 4) Amitraz; 5) Atrazine; 6) Benzidine and its salts; 7) Bis(chloromethyl)ether; 8) Dinoterb; 9) Hexazinone; 10) Paraquat and its salts; 11) Lambda-cyhalothrin.
The licensing of the chemicals will take effect on 12 Feb 2020. Importers, manufacturers and distributors of these chemicals and products containing these chemicals will be required to apply for a HS licence/permit for the import, export, sale, store and use of the chemicals.