Updated May 2024
The PPG Restricted Substances List (RSL) establishes our current requirements for and restrictions on the use of certain hazardous substances in our products. PPG's RSL is based on the principle of addressing the health and environmental risks of substances that we use, produce and sell. We identify substances for inclusion on PPG's RSL based on international conventions, country-specific requirements and substance-specific information. When substances are added to PPG’s RSL, a target date for restriction or prohibition is established and the affected businesses work to meet the requirements of the restriction prior to the target date. Progress towards the target date is tracked at least twice per year.
PPG's RSL applies to PPG products globally, including those sold in jurisdictions that do not have chemical regulation programs. PPG’s RSL includes all substances covered by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and industrial substances on the Rotterdam Convention Prior Informed Consent (PIC) list. Furthermore, PPG's RSL includes additional substances for which PPG has determined that restrictions are appropriate consistent with our values related to protection of human health and the environment. PPG’s RSL program evaluates substances for addition to the list and regularly incorporates information about substances already on the list.
Some examples of substances that are restricted in PPG products globally are lead, benzene, and certain glycol ethers. Benzene can enter the supply chain as an impurity in naphtha solvents. However, as benzene is restricted in PPG products globally, high purity naphtha solvents that contain <0.1% benzene are used. High purity naphtha solvents include CAS 64741-66-8, 64742-49-0, 64742-48-9, and 8032-32-4. Another example of a substance on PPG’s RSL is methylene chloride, which was added to the PPG RSL for restriction for all uses. Additionally, restrictions for some substances are appropriate for specific use scenarios, such as consumer uses. Some examples of substances that are restricted for use in consumer products globally include heavy metals such as cadmium and chromium.
The elimination of lead as an intentionally added ingredient in PPG products is an example of PPG's RSL program in action. For many years, lead has not been intentionally added to any of PPG's consumer products, and in 2019 we achieved our goal of eliminating intentionally added lead from all non-consumer products. PPG's non-consumer products previously contained lead as an intentionally added ingredient solely to meet the unique specifications of PPG's customers. Over the course of several years, PPG worked with those customers to develop alternative formulations that do not contain intentionally added lead but achieve the same performance characteristics.
In 2023, PPG's RSL included 1,875 substances that are restricted for all uses, and 403 substances that are restricted for specific uses, such as consumer products. Of the 739 substances that were added to the RSL in 2023, 725 of these substances are perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) included in ChemSec's Substitute It Now (SIN) List, the Stockholm Convention and the US EPA's PFAS listings. These substances, to the extent utilized at all, will be phased out of existing products and they will not be used in new product development globally moving forward. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and other long-chain PFAS substances were added to PPG's RSL in 2019. As an additional example of our progress in 2023, 1,2dichloroethane and 1,2-dichloropropane were also added to the RSL. These substances will not be intentionally added to our products globally moving forward.