Purchaser/Procurement manager
As a purchaser or procurement manager you can prevent risks to humans and the environment by avoiding hazardous substances in the chemical products and articles you purchase. PRIO helps you to find substances you should avoid and set chemical requirements in your procurements and purchases.
By avoiding hazardous substances when purchasing articles or chemical products, you can prevent risks to human health and the environment. If you then resell the articles or products, you are also responsible for ensuring that they meet the requirements of various legislations. It is therefore important that you have knowledge of what hazardous substances the articles and chemical products contain. There are some substances you should avoid completely.
How can PRIO help me?
PRIO is a tool that helps you search for substances that you should avoid in the chemical products and articles you are purchasing. You will also get help to prioritise which substances you should avoid in the first place. When you know which substances to avoid, it is easier for you to set clear requirements for your suppliers. By keeping one step ahead of the legislation and avoiding substances that are about to be restricted or banned under the chemicals rules, you can save your company or organization both time and money.
The database PRIO gives you easy access to information about
- substances and groups of substances that have dangerous properties
- examples of hazardous substances and groups of substances that can be found in different types of materials
- examples of hazardous substances and groups of substances that can be found in different types of chemical products
- which substance or substances you should prioritise to replace or avoid.
Read more about which substances are included in PRIO.
How can I use PRIO as support for procurement?
PRIO helps you to search for substances that you should avoid in the chemical products and articles you are purchasing. You will also get help to prioritise which substances you should avoid in the first place. This applies no matter if you are going to buy articles such as furniture or textiles or chemical products such as cleaning products. When you know which substances to avoid, it is easier to set clear requirements for your suppliers.
PRIO helps you to prioritise the hazardous substances that are most important to replace or avoid. There are two priority levels in the tool. Substances belonging to the group phase-out substances should be avoided or replaced altogether. In the case of substances that belong to the group priority risk reduction substances you should reduce the risk to humans and the environment as much as possible. You can do this by reviewing how the substance is used and what the exposure looks like.
Read more about PRIO's criteria for phase-out substances and priority risk reduction substances.
If you are going to buy a chemical product such as a cleaning agent, lubricant, or paint, you can read the packaging or the safety data sheet to see which hazardous substances are included. If the information is missing, you can ask your supplier.
By searching in PRIO, you can get more information about the dangerous properties of the substances. Based on the search results, you can then decide which substances you require to be replaced or avoided, or if you want to choose another product.
You can also use the criteria in PRIO as support if you want to design your own requirements for substances that you want to avoid in products you are purchasing.
Search for substances in PRIO.
Read more about safety data sheets on the Swedish Chemicals Agency's website (in Swedish only).
All articles consist of different materials, such as plastic, ceramic, wood, or textile. The materials in turn contain chemical substances. Searching for a certain material provides you with examples of dangerous substances that may be present in the material. You will also get to know the dangerous properties of the substances.
If you are going to buy an article, you need to find out what it contains in order to be able to assess the risks involved with the article. You should ask your supplier for information on whether the article contains hazardous substances. Suppliers within the EU/EEA area are always obliged to inform you if a product contains a particularly dangerous substance that is on the so-called Candidate List.
Search for substances in materials in PRIO.
If you already know which substances the article you intend to buy contains, you can search for different substances in PRIO to get quick information about the dangerous properties of the substances. Based on the results, you can decide which substances you want to replace or avoid in the article.
You can also use the criteria in PRIO as a support when setting your own requirements for substances that you want to avoid in articles you buy.
The criteria in PRIO give you support if you want to design your own requirements for hazardous substances that you want to avoid in your procurement and your purchases. In this way, you can tailor the requirements based on which health and environmental hazards are most relevant in your branch or business.
Read more about PRIO's priority levels and criteria for health and environmental hazards.
When searching for a substance in PRIO, you will find out if the substance is on the Candidate List in the EU chemicals legislation REACH. The list covers substances most of which are not banned in the chemicals regulations at present, but which may require a permit to be used or may be otherwise restricted within the EU in the future. You will also find out if the substance is a so-called phase-out substance in PRIO. Such a substance has such dangerous properties that it meets the criteria for being able to be entered on the Candidate List and be subject to further regulations in the field of chemicals in the future. Other substances may also be subject to restrictions and prohibitions in the future, if they have a use that includes unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.
Read more about the Candidate List of the EU on the Swedish Chemicals Agency's website (in Swedish only).
Read more about authorisation and restrictions on the Swedish Chemicals Agency's website (in Swedish only).
You can search in the database PRIO for individual substances and groups of substances. You can also search for and retrieve information on a wide variety of substances at the same time. It is also possible to search for different types of materials, such as plastic, ceramics or textiles and get examples of hazardous substances that may be present in the materials.
How can I use the information found in PRIO?
The search results from PRIO can be saved in an Excel file on your computer. This helps you to communicate in a concrete and clear way about which substances should be replaced or avoided, both internally at your company and with your customers or suppliers.
Read more about substitution of hazardous substances on the Swedish Chemicals Agency's website.