Biocides (antimicrobial function) in creative material

Labelling

If the requirement has been verified with a label, check that there is a valid license for the product in question. This can be checked on each website: Nordic Swan Ecolabel, EU Ecolabel, GOTS.

Tag/label describing biocidal product

If the requirement has been verified with a self-declaration based on documentation, perform spot checks on the delivered products and check that there is no label that describes treatment with biocidal products.

Please note that if the product has a label describing a biocide treated article, the requirement is not met.

Articles treated with biocides shall be labelled in accordance with the Biocides Directive. Examples of what a label can look like can be found in the Swedish Chemicals Agency's fact sheet "Articles treated with biocides ".

If the products do not have a label on treatment with biocidal product, request information from the supplier about any biocidal treatment of the products. The information may, for example, consist of product sheets, marketing materials or the like.

If an article has been treated with a biocide information regarding the name of the ingoing biocide should be found on the article.

Please note that if marketing shows biocide treatment, for example antibacterial or odourless, then the product does not meet the requirement.

Self-declaration verified by an accredited verification body

If a verified self-declaration is used to prove that the requirement is fulfilled, request the supplier’s self-declaration, including documentation showing that the requirement is met. The self-declaration shall be verified by a verification body accredited for the task in accordance with ISO / IEC 17029 or equivalent standard.

Please note that water-based products containing preservatives are not covered by the requirement, as they do not count as biocidal products. Examples of water based creative materials are paints and glue.

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. Examples of what a label can look like can be found in the Swedish Chemicals Agency's fact sheet "Articles treated with biocides".

There are currently a limited number of accredited verification bodies for ISO/IEC 17029 (Conformity assessment - General principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies) as it is a relatively new standard. This may change, especially if the demand for verifying compliance in this way increases. More information about the standard and accredited verification bodies can be found on Swedac'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.