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Summary of New Changes in GHS Revision 9
Compliance & Regulatory NewsGHS

Summary of New Changes in GHS Revision 9

By 10/15/21January 8th, 2024No Comments

By Veronica Marrero, Regulatory Compliance Specialist

On September 14, 2021, the United Nations published the 9th revision to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). Below is a summary of the changes included in this edition:

  • Chapter 2.1 (Explosives) was revised, expanding on the definitions and general considerations to include explosion hazard information for explosives not in their transport configuration. Some of the key revisions in this chapter are:
    • Updated definition for an ‘explosive substance or mixture’
    • Added definitions for ‘Division’ and ‘Primary packaging’
    • Modification to paragraph 2.1.1.2 from listing what the class of explosives comprises to listing the entire Scope of this hazard, which does include what encompasses the class of explosives.
    • Addition of paragraph 2.1.1.3 Other considerations.
    • Update to Table 2.1.1 Criteria for explosives and Table 2.1.2 Label elements for explosives
    • Revision to the decision logics
  • Decision logics for other hazard classes were revised. For the most part, the content remained the same, except for a few, including:
    • Decision logic 2.9 for pyrophoric liquids now addresses contact with/exposure to air.
    • Correction to Decision logic 3.2.1 for skin corrosion/irritation, specifically the resulting classification for the skin irritation logic.
  • The Classification and Labelling Summary tables in Annex 1 were revised. Aside from general formatting changes, the actual specifications were updated for the Explosives hazard class. Changes to the UN Model Regulations Pictogram specifications also exist throughout several hazard classes.
  • Precautionary statements were revised along with their applicability and conditions for use.
  • References to OECD test guidelines in Annexes 9 and 10 were updated.

The electronic version of the GHS revision 9 will be available for free in the following languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian. So far, only the English and French versions are available. As the other languages become available, you can find them here.

We will consistently monitor for jurisdictions adopting new GHS revisions to ensure we are maintaining the most up-to-date criteria in our TotalSDS Authoring software. Request a demo today.

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