Limitation of biocides (antimicrobial substances)

First, take samples of delivered products and check that there is no label that describes treatment with biocidal products¹. If there is such a label, the requirement is not met.

If the products do not have a label describing treatment with biocidal products, request information² about the product from the supplier and check that there is no information describing treatment with biocidal products. If there is such information, the product does not meet the requirement.

For the requirement to be met, the product shall lack information about biocide treatment, both on the label/marking and in the product information.

¹Biocidal treated articles shall be labeled in accordance with the Biocide Products Regulation. More information is available on the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s website.

²The information may, for example, consist of product sheets, marketing materials or similar. If a product has been treated with biocides, there shall be information containing the name of the added biocide that may be in the product.

Please note that during follow-up, a test protocol is not required to show that the requirement is met. See more information under "Proposed follow-up", under the tab "Criterion text”.

An article marketed as biocide-treated, for example antibacterial shall, according to the Biocides Regulation, be labelled. The information shall also be able to be provided if the supplier does not market the product as biocide-treated, according to Article 58 of the Biocides Regulation. The supplier of the product shall, upon request, be able to provide information on possible biocidal treatment within 45 days, even if the product is not marketed as a biocidal treated product to the consumer, according to the Biocides Regulation. It is thus possible to request the information from the supplier. More information about biocidal treated articles is available on the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s website.

A biocidal treated article is an article that is treated with a type of pesticide, called a biocidal product. The aim of the treatment is to give the article a function, for example to make sportswear odourless or a cutting board antibacterial. Other examples of articles that may be treated with biocidal products are building materials, boats painted with antifouling paint, impregnated wood, shoes, mattresses, cleaning supplies, and household appliances.

Articles that are treated with biocidal products contain substances that can be dangerous or toxic to humans and the environment and they can accelerate the development of resistant bacteria.

More information on rules for biocidal treated products can be found on the Swedish Chemicals Agency's website.

The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.

2020-06-17, Requirement ID 10036: 1: The requirement extended to include all biocides.
2012-01-31, Requirement ID 10036 Original version