The European Commission adds 2,4-dinitrotoluene to the REACH restricted substances list, prohibiting its use in articles sold to consumers and most professional users from May 2027
The European Commission has published Regulation (EU) 2026/859 on 20 April 2026, amending Annex XVII of the REACH Regulation to restrict the use of 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT) in articles placed on the market. The restriction takes effect on 10 May 2027. The EU’s chemicals agency, ECHA, classified 2,4-DNT as a Category 1B carcinogen, meaning it is presumed to cause cancer in humans based on animal evidence, and determined that no safe threshold of exposure exists. The restriction responds directly to that classification.
Under the new rule, articles containing 2,4-DNT at a concentration equal to or greater than 0.1 percent by weight cannot be placed on the market if they are intended for consumers or for professional users working outside industrial sites. This covers a wide range of goods that could contain residual quantities of the substance, including rubber and polymer products in which 2,4-DNT can appear as a manufacturing byproduct or impurity. The restriction covers both newly manufactured articles and those imported into the EU.
Industrial applications receive a narrower treatment. Articles used exclusively within industrial sites, where professional hygiene and exposure controls apply, fall outside the general restriction. The regulation also defines specific exemptions for product categories where substitution is technically impossible in the near term or where the articles serve critical public functions. These include articles destined for use in explosives, military ammunition, and police service cartridges, where the chemistry of the relevant energetic materials makes 2,4-DNT unavoidable.
A targeted transitional arrangement covers automotive safety systems. Seat belt pretensioners and bonnet actuators already on the market before 10 May 2027, as well as spare parts for vehicles placed on the market before that date, may continue to circulate for 36 months after the restriction date, meaning until May 2030. This gives the automotive industry time to complete the replacement of affected systems already integrated into vehicles in use, without forcing immediate recalls.
The regulation also explicitly excludes from its scope toys complying with the Toy Safety Directive, medical devices, in vitro diagnostics, food contact materials, and active implantable devices, since those product categories fall under separate sector-specific chemical safety requirements. Manufacturers and importers trading in industrial or professional goods that contain 2,4-DNT now have approximately one year to reformulate, substitute, or stop marketing affected articles before the restriction enters into force.
