IEC 62474 consists of two parts: the main document part of the standard that describes the material declaration requirements (may be purchased from IEC and resellers) and this database which specifies information that may need to be updated on timely basis. Please see the International IEC 62474 Standard for additional details about the standard and how this database is maintained.

The six types of information provided in IEC 62474 DB are represented by the six hyperlinked text fields in the left side margin:   

• Declarable substance groups and declarable substances (DSL)
• Reference Substances (RSL)
• Material classes (MCL)
• Exemption Lists
• Supplementary Lists and Information
• XML schema for materials declaration

Declarable substance groups and declarable substances

The database of declarable substance groups and declarable substances may be interactively queried (see instructions below) or the complete list may be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet.

Click on this category and you will see a pull-down menu titled "Select” that includes all substance groups and substances contained in the database. When clicking on an entry, the following fields will be pulled up:

• Reportable applications
• Reporting threshold
• Reporting requirement
  

To obtain additional information, click on the "Details” button to the right.

Under details, the following fields are provided, if applicable:

• ID
• Substance group
• Specific substance
• Substance clarification
• CAS number
• Common synonyms
• Typical EEE applications / uses
• Basis for including
• Description of basis (specific regulatory citation or specific market demand)
• Reportable application(s)
• Reporting threshold level in product (unless otherwise specified)
• Reporting level
• Reporting requirement (whether mandatory or optional)
• Mass information requirements
• First added
• Last revised
• Comments / footnotes

When referencing the DSL in a material declaration the ListID designation is:

• authority="IEC62474"
• identity="IEC62474-DSL"
• version="D18.00"   (Note: replace D18.00 with the current version specified in the header line of this database)

Reference substances

The reference substances provide an indicative list of substances that are included within a substance group. The reference substances are informative and the lists are not intended to be exhaustive, unless otherwise indicated in the comments/notes. The reference substances may be interactively queried (see instructions below) or the complete list may be downloaded as an excel spreadsheet.

Click on this category and you will see a pull-down menu titled "Select” that includes all substance groups contained in the database. When clicking on an entry, reference substances applicable to the substance group along with their CAS number will be pulled up.

To obtain additional information, click on the "Details” button to the right.

Under details, the following fields are provided, if applicable:

• Substance group
• Specific substance
• CAS number
• Common synonyms
• Basis for including (as a reference)
• First added
• Last revised
• Comments / footnotes

Material classes

The Material Class list contains the designated material classes that may be included in material declarations.

Material declarations are not only used to determine regulatory status, but as an input for environmentally conscious design, where it helps to inventory product-related environmental aspects and give information to determine which of these aspects is significant to a specific product.

Material classes represent categories of materials, so that a manufacturer may determine the materials contained in their products, and use these as one of the inputs to life cycle assessments. It allows:

• an inventory of materials contained in the product that can be assessed for significance;
• determination of which materials are dominant in the product that may be used for material efficiency goals; and
• analysis of energy used to obtain and manufacture the materials, as an input that may be used for energy efficiency goals.

Material classes are not related to hazards or regulations, and do not represent any kind of recommendation related to hazards or regulations.  Material classes are neither positive nor negative, and are not related to current or future restricted substances or materials.

To ensure consistency and accuracy, Material Classes have been given an identification number (ID) and a normative Material Class Name.  The material classes may be interactively queried (see instructions below) or the complete list may be downloaded as an excel spreadsheet.

Click this category and you will see the list of material classes, which are organized by inorganic materials, organic materials and materials for product operation.  The second level identifies a general category of material (such as steels and ferrous materials) and the third level (the Material Class) provides enough specificity for life cycle assessments or to identify the applicable recycling stream.  The material classes are listed by their identification number (alphanumeric, starting with the letter M). "Definitions of Material Classes" contains the descriptions of the material class name to help ensure consistency in classification throughout the supply chain. 

Every level 2 material category in the MCL is assigned a two-digit MC code (e.g. M-10 for steels and ferrous materials). This level 2 code may be used in the material declaration in the situation when a supplier does not know the level 3 material class (which are represented by a 3-digit code).  This provides a migration path from broader classifications to more detailed classifications when known. However, given that the level 2 material class categories do not provide enough information for a good life cycle assessment (LCA), the intent is to encourage the supply chain to provide third level material class data when it is available, and only to report level 2 material class categories when the level 3 material class data is not available.

The MCL UniqueId designation is:

• authority="IEC62474"
• identity="IEC62474-MCL"
• version="M2.00"   (Note: replace M2.00 with the current version specified in the header line of this database)

This information is required when suppliers are completing a material declaration that includes material class information.  For example, this information is reported in the MaterialClassList when a supplier includes a MaterialClassDeclaration in their material declaration file. 

XML schema for materials declaration

Click on this category, and you will see the XML schema and Developers’ Table available for download. The schema is available in an .xsd file. The Developers’ Table is available in an Excel file.

The Developer Table worksheet contains information for software providers to build electronic data exchange systems based on the requirements in IEC 62474 to support material declarations for the electronic industry.

In the event of inconsistencies between the Developer Table worksheet and the UML model worksheet, the Developer Table worksheet shall be considered the Record of Origin (ROO).

To read the Developers’ Table:

1. For an explanation of the contents of the column titled "Identity Code", refer to IEC 61360.
2. The column titled "Preferred Name" includes the name for the data field.
3. The column titled "Data Type" specifies the format of the data field.
4. The column titled "Multiplicity" specifies the range of number of the data fields allowed.
5. For an explanation of the contents of the column titled "Value Format", refer to IEC 61360.
6. The column titled "UoM" specifies the unit of measure for the data field.
7. The column titled "Obligation" indicates whether the data type is mandatory, optional or conditional.
8. The column titled "Writer" includes the codes that specify whether the the data field may be entered by the requester or responder.
9. The column titled "Definition" includes the description of the data field.
10. The column titled "Note" includes additional normative information related to the data field where applicable.

Field descriptions

"ID" - the unique ID for each substance group or substance.

"Substance Group" - includes the declarable substance group name. Refer to section 4 of IEC62474 for declarable substance group reporting.

"Specific Substance" - specifies the substance name for declarable substances. Refer to section 4 of IEC62474 for declarable substance reporting. If the "Specific Substance” field states "See Reference Substance worksheet for more details" then the reporting requirement is for the substance group and not the specific substance.

"SubstanceClarification" - this includes 2 types of information.  The first is to include "additional information" contained in the ECHA SVHC list, where a substance or substance group name has additional descriptions related to the covered substance(s).  ECHA shows this as a subtext under the substance or substance group name.  The second type of information are notes related to the entry, such as indicating that a given substance is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH).

"CAS Number" - references Chemical Abstract Service Registry (CAS) numbers, if applicable. If this field contains "See Reference Substance worksheet for more details" then the reporting requirement is for a substance group and the listing for an individual substance CAS numbers is contained in the Reference Substances field.

"Common synonym(s)" - contains common synonymns, where available. This column is informative. National committees can recommend synonymns be added, deleted, or corrected in the database during the annual update cycle through submittal of a change request.

"Typical EEE Applications / Uses" - lists some examples of typical uses of the substance group or substance in EEE equipment. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive.

"Basis for Including" - specifies the basis for including the substance group or substance, per the criteria of IEC 62474:

• Criteria 1: Currently Regulated
• Criteria 2: For assessment
• Criteria 3: For information only
  

"Description of Basis (specific regulatory citation or specific market demand)" - provides a description of the basis for including the substance or substance group in the database including examples of regulatory citations or industry standards that set the reporting thresholds. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive.

"Reportable Application(s)" - provides the specific application for the reporting requirements.

"Reporting Threshold Level in Product (unless otherwise specified)” - specifies the reporting threshold level. The default reporting threshold is applied to the product, unless otherwise specified in this column (for example battery or homogenous material).

"Reporting Requirement" - specifies whether the reporting requirement is mandatory or optional.

"Mass Information Requirements" - this specifies the type of mass percent to report, for example, whether it is a mass percent of the product, of a specified product part, of a material, of a homogeneous material, or of an article.  This field also specifies if total mass of a given substance or substance group that are present cumulatively in the product need to be declared.  

"First Added" and "Last Revised" - show the date the substance group or substances was first added to the database and the date of any updates, respectively.

"Comments/Footnotes" - contains additional comments and footnotes.