The AskREACH Summer Scanning Contests

Summer is on its way and we are all looking forward to spending more time outside again – taking part in sporting activities, playing games, enjoying the sun at a lake, or working in the garden. But have you ever wondered whether your outdoor clothing, your children’s inflatable beach toys or your gardening tools might contain harmful chemicals?

Scan for Change with the Scan4Chem app…

Starting in May, people across Europe will be asking companies about potentially harmful substances contained in summer products. The Scan4Chem app makes this easy. It scans the barcode of a product and allows you to send a request to the supplier with only a few clicks. This way, companies see that we care about potentially harmful substances.

…and you can win a prize

The partners of the AskREACH project are organizing scanning contests to motivate people to join the campaign. In each participating country, app users can win a prize after downloading the Scan4Chem app and submitting requests to companies. Under the hashtags #AskREACH and #Scan4Chem you can find the organization running the scanning contest in your area. You will also find regularly-updated information about harmful chemicals in beach articles, gardening tools, outdoor equipment and playground toys. It is not necessary to purchase products in order to scan them. Likely, you will want to find out if a product contains harmful chemicals before you buy it.

Your right to know!

Everyday products, such as hiking shoes, inflatable pools, spades or beach bags may contain substances of very high concern (SVHCs),  which can be harmful to your health and the environment. Under the EU chemicals legislation REACH, companies are obliged to inform consumers on request if a product contains SVHCs at concentrations above 0.1 % w/w. Using our Scan4Chem app, all consumers need to do is scan the barcode and they can then send their request to the supplier with only a few clicks! The company is obliged to respond if the product contains SVHCs above 0.1 %. And if the company uploads the product information to our European AskREACH database, then it is available directly after scanning. The more people scan, the more companies will see that consumers care about harmful chemicals in products!