The NOF Group positions chemical safety as a key responsibility and places priority on the following initiatives.
　

1. Assessment of product hazards and environmental impact
   We conduct thorough chemical substances risk assessments, collecting and organizing information on environmental impacts and hazards from the product development stage. This enables us to classify and grade hazards, clarify applicable regulatory requirements, and ensure safety throughout all processes, from manufacturing, handling, storage, and distribution to disposal.
2. Identification of potential hazards and implementation of countermeasures
   At each stage, such as planning and pilot production, we carry out chemical substances risk assessments and organize quantified information on potential hazards in products. In particular, for ingredients with significant potential risks, we implement effective measures such as requiring appropriate protective equipment and monitoring workplace environments, based on the results of risk assessments.
3. Updating product information and verifying legal compliance
   To ensure product safety, we confirm legal compliance through testing and evaluation before sales begin. Furthermore, after products are launched, we continue to collect and update hazard information and reflect the latest findings.
4. Establishing emergency response systems
   We have built systems that enable prompt response in the event of unforeseen product accidents or situations requiring urgent re-assessment.
5. Ensuring safety during transportation
   During transport, we strictly enforce the carrying of “Yellow Cards” containing chemical hazard information to ensure safety in transit.
   　

Through these initiatives, the NOF Group is strengthening safety management of chemical substances and striving to enhance chemical safety toward the realization of a sustainable society.
　

In order to meet the needs of our customers now and in the future, the NOF Group promotes appropriate risk-based management of chemicals and conducts product safety risk assessments for all products, including new products.
Many countries and regions are now actively enacting or revising laws and regulations related to chemicals management. In cooperation with Group companies in Japan and overseas, NOF is strengthening its ability to gather information on regulatory trends and enhancing its functions using a comprehensive chemicals management system in order to ensure compliance with the following items.
　

• We maintain a comprehensive understanding of the hazards, risks, and impacts of each product as they relate to all phases of the product’s life cycle and intended use(s).
• We update the quality and quantity of information as necessary to ensure global consistency and to comply with local requirements for product information.
• We keep records of all necessary and requested product safety information to ensure that our products are useable throughout their entire life cycle.
• Standardized safety data sheets (SDS) are provided to customers at the time of initial delivery and upon request in local areas. We consistently maintain this critical information provision mechanism, and conduct distribution to all customers worldwide for all products, in compliance with local regulations and in the language requested by the customer.

The NOF Group believes that a sound understanding of its products’ chemical properties, hazards, and impacts on people and the environment, as well as the management of risks associated with the handling of products, are fundamental to providing the market with a safe and competitive product portfolio in the future. We work to ensure reliable operation of the mechanism for providing SDSs so that hazard information related to our products is easily available to our customers and employees, and we continuously provide updates on the latest information.
The NOF Group currently delivers over 5,000 products to markets in 82 countries and regions around the world, and provides SDSs to these markets. We are also responsible for making revisions in response to changes in laws. We provide customers with appropriate information and technical assistance to ensure thorough understanding of our products and safe usage and handling practices. We are currently introducing a system to manage product information. As laws and regulations evolve, we are collecting more information on the conditions of use of our products to record and assess the associated risks, and reflect this in our SDSs.
In addition, NOF has made a list of controlled substances specified in the POPs Convention, RoHS Directive, and the like, and promotes thorough management and volume reduction by ranking them as
　

❶ All chemicals prohibited to be handled,
❷ Chemicals for which we will consider alternatives and strive to reduce the amount handled, and 
❸ Chemicals to be handled under appropriate management. 
　

We are striving to eliminate, and make subject to phased reductions in procurement, use, and sales. Since the implementation of the EU’s REACH regulation, in 2024, one of our products was subject to the system for substances of very high concern (SVHCs). Currently, we do not conduct direct sales of the relevant products to Europe. We comply with the REACH regulation and will continue to share information with our customers and take appropriate measures.
In addition, in Japan, we are also promoting initiatives to remove lead from pyrotechnic devices such as detonators that contain lead, which can affect water pollution.

In Japan, prior notification of new chemical substances is mandatory, pursuant to the Act on the Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, etc. (Chemical Substance Control Law) and the Industrial Safety and Health Act.
To comply with the aforementioned laws and other regulations related to new chemical substances, NOF has established the Standards for the Management of New Chemical Substances and manages and operates the handling of new chemical substances accordingly.
Figure 1 on the "Management and Handling of Chemical Substances" page shows the organizational structure for management, Figure 2 shows the review process flow, and Figure 3 shows the inspection flow.
When beginning the manufacture of a new chemical substance, the Corporate Technical Division verifies that the notification draft prepared by the relevant business division meets legal requirements, ensuring that appropriate notification is submitted.
In addition, to prevent manufactured or imported quantities from exceeding the approved amounts, the relevant business division manages the total quantity, while the Corporate Technical Division thoroughly oversees this management through internal audits.
Furthermore, the Corporate Technical Division provides comprehensive training to all personnel involved in new chemical substance applications and management, as well as relevant legal training for those responsible for chemical substance applications and management. This training is conducted annually at each site to ensure the latest information is consistently shared.
When submitting reports on the production and import volumes of general chemical substances under the Chemical Substances Control Law, we also provide appropriate information, including details on end uses from our customers.

We also positively disclose information on the risks and other negative aspects of chemical substances through the Japan Initiative of Product Stewardship, which is the chemical industry’s institution for voluntary activities for the control of chemicals.
In addition, we participate in the Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI) implemented through the Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA), support research that leads to safety and security from a viewpoint that a company should “meet the needs of society,” and work together to solve social issues.
Furthermore, as a member of the Joint Article Management Promotion-consortium* (JAMP), NOF makes use of chemSHERPA, a tool recommended by JAMP for communicating chemical substance information, to provide information to downstream users handling articles (parts, molded products, etc.).
　

The NOF Group properly stores and manages polychlorinated biphenyl waste in accordance with the Law Concerning Special Measures Against PCB Waste, and disposes of such waste by commissioning disposal operators as prescribed by laws and regulations.
All treatment of high-concentration PCB has been completed as of the end of March 2023, the final deadline for treatment.
As for low-concentration PCBs, we have completed the survey of all equipment containing PCBs, including PCB components contained in paint coatings, and are systematically replacing the equipment and changing the coatings to meet the treatment deadline of the end of March 2027.

Chemical substances are being subject to stricter control on a global basis. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in 2002, a target was set as part of the international agenda to “use and produce chemicals in ways that minimize significant adverse effects on human health and the environment by 2020,” in an effort to realize sustainable development. Based on this agenda, countries around the world, including emerging countries, are being encouraged to adopt and firmly establish risk-based management of chemicals and implement GHS*1. In terms of chemical substances, there is a rising trend requiring control of relevant risks from the standpoint of the entire supply chain, i.e. from manufacture to disposal, while also being required to disclose information on the risks caused by chemical substances and their control to the general public, including customers and consumers.
Amid the trend of tightening controls over chemical substances, the NOF Group is responding by complying with the laws of each country and region where we do business. To this end, in fiscal 2020, NOF introduced and constructed a company-wide SDS creation support system, and has begun centralized management of SDS throughout the Company.
　

The REACH*1 Regulation is a comprehensive system of registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemical substances within the EU. REACH aims to protect human health and the environment, and to maintain and enhance competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry, among others, and includes almost all chemical substances exported to the EU within its jurisdiction.
In addition, we comply with chemical substance regulations in relevant regions and countries, including the U.S. TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act), the UK’s UK-REACH, South Korea’s K-REACH, and chemical substance laws in China and Taiwan. The number of registrations under these regulations is shown in the table on the right.
The NOF Group actively engages in exporting to overseas countries, including those in the EU region, and complies with REACH in accordance with the export volume of the chemical substance involved. We practice appropriate compliance by obtaining the latest information from industrial associations and related authorities.

1. Abbreviation of Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals. REACH represents the EU’s quality control regulations on chemicals and is applied to the registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals.
2. Refers to NOF’s non-consolidated Functional Materials, Life Sciences, and Metal Coatings businesses, excluding R&D applications.

There were no violations of environmental laws and regulations.

GHS is a criteria for the classification of health, environmental, physical and chemical hazards of chemical substances and mixtures according to a given set of standards. This information must be reflected in the SDS and GHS labels to reflect the latest information, and all parties involved in handling chemical substances, including users, distributors, and transporters, must be alerted to the need for safe handling.
To this end, in fiscal 2020, NOF introduced and constructed a company-wide SDS creation support system, and has centralized management of SDS throughout the Company. This system enables us to manage all chemical substances used in our products on a company-wide server, and to provide our customers with the latest information on chemical substances in our products through timely updating of SDS and GHS labels issued by each business unit to reflect changes in the laws and regulations of major countries. While we have fully responded to the revisions to the PRTR Act from FY2023, we are also working to expand the functions of the system to track and manage important information such as usage and handling history of chemical substances, in order to improve transparency and visibility.