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About Panasonic

Management of Chemical Substances in Products

Last Update: Aug 6, 2008

Product development with minimal use of chemical substances of concern

For Panasonic, meeting legislation requirements on design, composition and recycling is only the starting-point of our environmental product requirements. For instance, with regards to chemicals policy, our requirements are way ahead of legislation. Our products don't just comply with ALL international legislation; we are also working to eliminate substances of concern to Panasonic, even where they are not legally restricted.

We are manufacturing products in line with our basic policy for managing chemical substances in products, which is to minimize the use of chemical substances that are most likely to affect the environment across their life cycles. In 1999, we published our Chemical Substances Management Rank Guidelines. In accordance with these guidelines, strict management of chemical substances has been in force group-wide. The use of "Level 1" chemical substances is prohibited by law, and of course we do not use such materials. For chemical substances that may adversely affect the environment but which are not prohibited by law, we check our use of these substances as "managed substances." Those substances that should partially be discontinued we define as "Level 2" prohibited substances. Based on our Chemical Substances Management Rank Guidelines Version 5, which additionally include some fluorochemical surfactants, the use of which is now prohibited in the European Union (EU), and the specified benzotriazole-based ultraviolet (UV) absorbers, which is also now banned in Japan, as "Level 1" chemical substances, we will further reduce the use of relevant chemical substances jointly with our suppliers.

Chemical Substances Management Rank Guidelines Ver. 5 (for products)

Ranks Substances groups Definitions
Prohibited substances Level 1 15
  • Substances whose use in products has been prohibited by laws and regulations
  • Substances whose use in products will be prohibited by laws and regulations within one year from the revision of the guideline
  • Substances whose use in products has been prohibited by Panasonic and its subsidiaries
Level 2 1
  • Substances whose use in products will be prohibited by treaties or laws as of the specified deadlines
  • Substances whose use in products has been voluntarily restricted by Panasonic and its subsidiaries
Managed substances 11
  • Substances whose actual use status must be further researched and whose impact on health and safety as well as appropriate treatment must be considered
  • Substances whose use or non-use and the amount of use must be further researched

List of prohibited substance groups

Level 1
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Asbestos
Specified organic tin compounds
Short-chained chlorinated paraffin (C10-13)
Specified brominated flame retardants
(PBB and PBDE)
Azo dyes and pigments forming
specified amines
Polychloronaphthalene
(number of chlorine is three or more) 		Cadmium and its compounds
Lead and its compounds
Hexavalent chromium compounds
Mercury and its compounds
Ozone-depleting substances
(excluding HCFC)
Formaldehyde
Specified benzotriazole
Perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts
Level 2
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its compounds, vinyl chloride copolymer

List of managed substances

  • Antimony and its compounds (including alloys)
  • Arsenic and its compounds (including alloys)
  • Beryllium and its compounds (including alloys)
  • Bismuth and its compounds (including alloys)
  • Nickel and its compounds (excluding alloys)
  • Selenium and its compounds (including alloys)
  • Organic tin compounds
  • Brominated flame retardants (excluding PBBs and PBDEs)
  • Ozone-depleting substances (HCFCs)
  • Radio active substances
  • Phthalate esters

More information on our approach to chemicals managements can be found in our Green Procurement section.

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