Chlorhexidine Added to Schedule 1

Summary#

This is a federal proposal to add chlorhexidine and its salts to Schedule 1 (the List of Toxic Substances) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. Published in the Canada Gazette on March 6, 2021, the addition would not itself set new rules, but would let the government develop measures to reduce environmental releases of the substance; people had 60 days from publication to comment.

What it does#

• Adds chlorhexidine and its salts to Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, which is the formal list of substances the government has found may harm the environment.
• Lets the federal ministers (the Department of the Environment and the Department of Health) move forward to design specific controls or agreements to limit releases of the substance to the environment.
• Notes possible next steps the government is considering, such as a code of practice or an environmental performance agreement aimed at reducing releases from industrial formulation and handling.
• Does not itself ban products or set limits on consumer uses; any specific rules would come later and go through their own consultations.

Who's affected#

• Companies that make or import products containing chlorhexidine (examples in Canada included salts like chlorhexidine diacetate, dihydrochloride and digluconate). Reported import ranges included 100 kg to 1 000 kg, 1 000 kg to 10 000 kg, and 10 000 kg to 100 000 kg for different salts in past reporting years.
• Manufacturers and formulators in industries that use chlorhexidine as an antiseptic or preservative — for example, makers of cosmetics, natural health products, some drugs, and hard-surface disinfectants.
• Wastewater treatment operators and environments downstream of industrial or municipal wastewater, since the screening assessment identified risk to aquatic life from industrial releases.
• Consumers are unlikely to see immediate changes to product availability because the government found current consumer exposures present low human‑health risk; any product-level rules would be developed later.

Why it matters#

• The government’s assessment found that chlorhexidine and its salts can harm aquatic organisms at low concentrations and can persist in water and sediment. That is why the substance is being added to Schedule 1 — to allow targeted risk-management actions.
• Adding the substance to Schedule 1 is the step that enables the creation of rules, standards, or voluntary agreements to reduce environmental releases. Those future measures could reduce contamination around factories, wastewater outputs, and places where biosolids are applied on land.
• For most everyday users of products containing chlorhexidine, current scientific findings in this notice say human‑health risk is low at present levels — so immediate effects on consumer products are not expected unless later rules specifically target those uses.