“Chronic” refers to chemical substances that, under long-term exposure or continuous use, produce harmful effects on human health or the environment.
This term plays a critical role in risk assessments to determine the long-term toxic effects and environmental persistence of chemicals. Annexe 1 to the Regulation takes into account “chronic” effects, particularly for substances with persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) or very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) properties for the environment, and defines the special measures and restrictions that these substances must be monitored for.