Any biocide that is not on the Article 95 list had to be removed from the European marketplace as from 1 September 2015.
What is the Article 95 list?
Article 95 is like a forerunner of the EC Biocidal Products Directive (BPD).
The BPD was designed in 1998. This ensured that biocides are used without causing harm to people, the environment or animals.
Companies that place biocides on the EU market had to submit technical dossiers. These are currently being evaluated by the competent authorities of EU member states appointed to assess each specific biocide. In the UK the competent authority is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Only companies which dossiers are being evaluated are in the Article 95 list.
What is important to know is that since September 2015 a biocide cannot be made available on the EU market. This still includes the UK, unless the supplier is included in the Article 95 list for the Product Type (PT) to which the product belongs. The list is produced by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). For further information please follow this link.
What Is A Biocide?
The HSE defines a biocide as ‘a product which controls harmful or unwanted organisms through chemical or biological means’.
Biocides include chemicals used to control Legionella and other bacteria in water distribution systems (PT2) and drinking water (PT5) as well as in cooling towers (PT11).
Therefore, Biocides are not only oxidising chemicals, such as chlorine dioxide, silver-stabilised hydrogen peroxide, active chlorine (calcium or sodium hypochlorite), chlorine, monochloramine, bromine but also non-oxidising chemicals such as copper and silver produced by ionisation.
What will happen to Article 95 after Brexit?
There is a lot of talk at the moment about Article 50, but will Brexit affect Article 95?
According to lawyers, ‘nothing will change’ before Brexit becomes official.
When Brexit becomes official, theoretically, the UK will no longer be bound by EU rules. However, rules, especially those related to biocides, will probably not be overturned, since these are intended to protect human health and the environment. Furthermore, it would be surprising if the UK would be inconsistent with European law in this case.
Are the copper and silver ionisation systems from ProEconomy compliant?
Yes!
By applying the Orca and Barracuda systems from ProEconomy you are completely compliant and legal because ProEconomy is included in the Article 95 list, both for copper and for silver for PT2, PT5 and PT11.
This means that ProEconomy was not affected by the September 2015 deadline. Therefore, we can continue to use their products to successfully control Legionella and Pseudomonas bacteria in water systems throughout the UK.
The latest version of the Article 95 list is downloadable from the ECHA website.
