,The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that its Biocidal Products Committee (BPC) has postponed issuing an opinion on the approval of ethanol as an active substance in hand and general disinfectants. During discussions, the Committee was unable to reach a consensus regarding the potential hazards of ethanol and possible alternatives, leading to a delay in opinion adoption. The BPC will resume its evaluation in February 2026, with the aim of finalizing the opinion later that year, and the final decision is not expected before May 2026. Following the BPC’s opinion, the European Commission will decide on the approval of ethanol for biocidal use. Under the Biocidal Products Regulation, all active substances in biocidal products must be approved before the corresponding products can be authorised, ensuring safety and efficacy. The BPC provides science-based assessments to guide regulatory decisions, and ethanol’s evaluation highlights ongoing scrutiny of commonly used disinfectants in the EU.
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