Guidance on classification for reproductive toxicity under the globally harmonized system of classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS)

With a wider remit, the United Nations formulated a classification and labelling system for universal application, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS was first published in 2003 (UN, 2003) and subsequently updated on a biannual basis, with the most recent revision published in 2009 (UN, 2009a). It was enacted into the European legislative framework as Regulation 1272/2008 (EC, 2008). The supplementary guidance text of the GHS explains the application of the classification criteria (Box 1). It uses more advisory, less obligatory, language than the equivalent EU text (e.g. “should” vs. “shall”), but overall the differences between the two are minor and are noted in the footnotes to Box 1. This review offers guidance for the classification of substances for toxicity to reproduction according to the GHS; as a whole it applies equally to both regulatory frameworksJRC.I.5-Systems Toxicolog