What is a poison centre?

Poison centres play an important role in ensuring the safe use of chemicals and formulating preventive and curative measures in case of poisoning incidents. They provide medical advice to general consumers and physicians on health emergencies arising from exposure to hazardous chemicals or to other toxic agents.

On average, poison centres in the EU answer 600 000 calls for support each year. Roughly half of the cases are related to accidental exposures involving children. Under Article 45 of the CLP Regulation economic operators placing certain hazardous mixtures on the market have to provide information to national appointed bodies. This information is used by poison centres.

This website is established by the European Chemicals Agency to facilitate the implementation of new regulations on harmonised information by companies, appointed bodies and poison centres. 

  • 29 June 2018 Guide for European Product Categorisation System published
    A new European Product Categorisation System (EuPCS) practical guide for industry has been published. The EuPCS is used to describe the intended use of a mixture for which a submission has to be made according to Article 45 and Annex VIII of the CLP Regulation.
  • 2 May 2018 Watch our UFI webinar
    Did you miss our webinar? Our latest webinar explains what the unique formula identifier (UFI) is and how it can be used. It also describes tools and support for generating and using the UFI for hazardous and non-hazardous mixtures. Watch it below.
  • 30 April 2018 Pilot project to assess new PCN format
    The pilot project will assess the usability of the developed Poison Centres Notification (PCN) format for industry, appointed bodies and poison centres. The project will also make it possible for industry to generate notifications in .xml file format, appointed bodies and poison centres will be able to receive, extract and read the .xml files and highlight stakeholders’ support needs from the IT and business perspective.
  • 18 April 2018 Webinar: using the UFI for your products and mixtures
    This webinar explains what the unique formula identifier (UFI) is and how it can be used. It also describes available tools and support for generating and using the UFI for hazardous and non-hazardous mixtures...
  • 18 April 2018 Newsletter article: get the full UFI overview
    If you or someone you know has ever been accidentally exposed to a chemical product, you can pick up the phone and call a poison centre to ask for medical advice.