EU: CEN published new Nickel Standard

October 2015

Relevant for: Electrical & electronics, Hardlines, Softlines, Toys & children's products

According to REACH Annex XVII entry 27, the standards published by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) should be used to demonstrate compliance of nickel release. The latest amendment, EN 1811:2011+A1:2015[1], has been published and it replaces the previous EN 1811:2011. This amendment also incorporates the corrigendum published in May 2012.

The European Union’s member states have begun to adopt the amendment and publish their own national versions of the standard. The contents of the national standard are the same as the ones published by the CEN.  For example, BS EN 1811:2011+A1:2015 is the version adopted by the United Kingdom. The latest date to adopt the new standard at the national level is 31 January 2016.

Compared with EN 1811:2011, the 2015 amendment removes the inconclusive conclusion for nickel release value lying within the range 0.11<x<0.35 µg/cm2/week (for body piercing articles) or 0.28<x<0.88 µg/cm2/week (for non-body piercing articles), thus providing clarity for conformity assessment.  Please see below for details.

A. Body piercing articles (Limit: 0.2 µg/cm2/week)

 Nickel release value (µg/cm2/week)Previous Criteria
EN 1811:2011 		New Criteria
EN 1811:2011+A1:2015 
 < 0.11 PassPass
 0.11 - 0.35InconclusivePass
 ≥ 0.35FailedFailed

B. Non-body piercing articles (Limit: 0.5 µg/cm2/week)

 Nickel release value (µg/cm2/week)Previous Criteria
EN 1811:2011		New Criteria
EN 1811:2011+A1:2015 
 < 0.28PassPass
0.28 - 0.88InconclusivePass
≥ 0.88 FailedFailed