The EDANA Stewardship Programme Codex™ 

Trace impurities have a long history of being tracked by EDANA members and are often subject to regulatory scrutiny, ongoing investigation by competent authorities, or general consumer concerns.

The core of the EDANA Stewardship Programme is the voluntary CODEX, which features:

• an evolving industry-wide list of chemicals (including, but not limited to, PAHs, PCBs, dioxins, furans, phthalates and formaldehyde). These are not intentionally used to manufacture absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) but may be present in trace amounts

• guidance values based on existing related regulations, regulatory guidance, related existing standards or industry experience. These guidance values should not be exceeded

• consumer relevant test methods for assessing the presence of the trace chemicals

• Exposure-based risk assessment (EBRA) is currently the proposed method of choice, as a scientifically sound approach using realistic exposure parameters. The guidance values do not affect the requirement to have the necessary safety assessments for individual products to comply with the General Product Safety Regulation 2023/988 (EU). The open development of guidance values follows a tiered approach and evolves over time as new scientific data and insights are available or regulatory limits are updated. A Scientific Review Panel provides expert advice on the EDANA Stewardship Programme CODEX. This Scientific Review Panel has also developed a compendium with key facts around AHPs, from supply to manufacture, safety evaluation, market surveillance, with focus on the CODEX guidance values and the analytical extraction methods.

The Stewardship Program is an open and transparent process that allows companies to voluntarily go beyond current EU and national legislation and the participants are free to go beyond the established criteria of the Stewardship Program based on their specific quality assurance processes.