How to search in PRIO
In the PRIO database, you can find out if a substance has properties hazardous to health and the environment by searching on the chemical name, CAS Number or EC Number. PRIO can also provide you with information on what chemical products or materials a particular substance may occur in.
Standard search – search on a chemical substance
In a standard search you can search for a chemical substance in PRIO. If you know the CAS Number or the EC Number of the substance, you can get an exact match by entering the whole number. When searching with a chemical name, you may enter the whole name or a part of the name. If you enter a part of the substance´s name, the search result will include all substances containing that part of the name.
A CAS Number (Chemical Abstracts Service Number) is a registration number for chemicals. It is an international identification number for chemical substances.
An EC Number is used for chemical substances on the EU market. It is a number assigned to the substance in the Einecs, Elincs or the No-Longer Polymers List. Einecs is a European list of the substances considered to have been on the European market between 1 January 1971, and 18 September 1981. Elincs is a European list of notified, new substances. The No-longer Polymers List is a European list covering substances that were on the European market between 18 September 1981, and 31 October 1993, and that, at the time, were considered as polymers. An EC Number contains seven digits following the principle xxx-xxx-x and must start with the digit 2 or 3 (Einecs), 4 (Elincs) or 5 (No-Longer Polymers).
In connection with the registration (including the pre-registration) of chemical substances within Reach, every substance that had no EC Number assigned to them was assigned a List number. The List Numbers always start with the digit 6, 7, 8 or 9. Contrary to EC Numbers, the List Numbers are not official identifications, but they are used in PRIO as a support to substance searches in the database. Read more about registered substances on Echas website.
External link.
Batch search – search on several chemical substances at the same time
A batch search allows you to search for multiple chemical substances at the same time. You can, for instance, search for all substances included in your list of chemicals in one search in PRIO. When performing a batch search, CAS Number or EC Number of the substances must be used.
Advanced search – search on criteria, materials, substance groups etc.
In an advanced search, in addition to searching for individual chemical substances, you may also search for chemical substances by selecting from search parameters such as Criteria (properties hazardous to health and the environment) , Material, Substance groups or Product type. You may also search by Reference, which indicates were the substances comes from, and by Priority level.
You can also search on substances by combining several search parameters from different drop-down menus with the AND or OR functions. For the AND condition, substances must meet all marked search parameters, which will result in a narrower search. For the OR condition, one or more of the selected search parameters must be met, which results in a broader search.
An example of a combined search could be to search for the material "PVC" and the substance group "phthalates" to get a list of phthalates that are associated with PVC.
The AND or OR condition also applies within the drop-down boxes Criteria, Material, Substance groups, Product type and Reference. When performing a search, you may mark several options and select whether the AND or OR condition should apply. For the AND condition, substances must meet all marked options. For the OR condition, one or more of the selected options must be met.
It is also possible to limit the search by combining the search with different filters to prevent the search result from being dominated by specific groups of substances. This applies to complex hydrocarbons, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or particularly hazardous metals (compounds with cadmium, mercury and lead). You can also limit a search to include substances only found in chemical products in Sweden.
The material module in PRIO - search on material and get information about hazardous substances that may occur in your material. In PRIO, you may search for different material categories and their subcategories to get information about hazardous substances that may occur in different materials. As a purchaser/procurer or product developer, you can use the information as support for setting specific chemical requirements on your suppliers.
Your search returned no hits! - What does it mean?
This can either be due to:
- That the substance's properties do not meet any of the criteria in PRIO, which is good!
- That the substance is not included in the references that PRIO refers to. Note that the substance may still fall under PRIO's criteria.
For more information on hazardous properties in order to assess whether or not your substance meets the criteria in PRIO, you can search in ECHA's Classification and Labelling Inventory. Beside a list of harmonised classifications, the C&L Inventory contains classification and labelling information notified by manufacturers and importers of substances. We recommend using the companies' self-classifications to assess whether the substance is a phase-out substance or a priority risk reduction substance. You can also request more information on health and environmental properties from your supplier or search the scientific literature yourself.
Read more about PRIO restrictions and what substances are in PRIO.