Reporting Metal Alloys in Declare
Metal or metal alloy chemical abstract registry numbers (CASRNs) can reflect a wide variety of alloy compositions, which prevents the accurate screening of chemicals within products reported in Declare. Therefore, the Declare program requires that metal alloys be reported using alloy numbers or by reporting the chemical composition of the specific alloy.
As described in the Declare Manufacturer’s Guide, there are two pathways to reporting metal alloys. This guide explains how to report your metal alloy(s) in Geofund using each pathway.
Preferred Pathway: Reporting with the Alloy Number
This method requires that metals and metal alloys be identified in the bill of materials (BOM) using the Unified Numbering System (UNS) or European Norm (EN) alloy numbers. Structural parts formed by powder metallurgy may be identified by the Metal Powders Industry Federation (MPIF) Standard 35 – SP number. Additional information about the alloy, such as ASTM grade, may also be reported as secondary information.
The Unified Numbering System (UNS) of metals and alloys was developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1974 to uniformly number commercial metals and alloys in the United States, and is administered jointly by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The Copper Development Association maintains a database of copper alloys here: https://unscopperalloys.org/. There is a free lookup database of all UNS alloys here: https://www.matweb.com/search/SearchUNS.aspx.
EN alloy numbers are defined by several standards written and maintained by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN).
The Metal Powders Industry Federation (MPIF) maintains a standard nomenclature system for structural parts formed by powder metallurgy – see MPIF Standard 35 – SP.
Once you have the UNS, EN, or MPIF alloy number, you will need to apply it to the appropriate ingredient in your label’s bill of materials (BOM). You can either include the alloy number, alloy name, and elemental composition within the BOM CSV to upload, or you can edit the ingredient directly within the Variants tab in Geofund.
To edit the metal alloy directly in the Variants tab, select the three vertical dots on the row of the alloy and then click Edit row.
The first task in this window is to find the Special CASRN drop down and select Metal Alloy from the options. This will allow you to enter custom values within the CASRN and Chemical Name fields.
Please note that by selecting a Special CASRN option, any data within the CASRN and Chemical Name fields will be cleared.
Next input the elemental composition in the CASRN field, and then within the Chemical Name field, enter the alloy name and alloy number.
Select Save at the bottom of the Edit Row window to save all changes made to the ingredient.
The UNS or EN alloy number and its composition will now appear on your BOM.
Alternative Pathway: Report the Alloy Using Components and Substances
If a UNS, EN, or MPIF number is not available, then the metal alloy may be disclosed by listing all elements making up the alloy. The elemental makeup of an alloy can be found in a mill specification/mill test report. As an example, brass is an alloy containing the pure elements copper, zinc, lead, tin, etc.
This pathway requires that you report the alloy component using Component and substances.
If you have not yet reviewed Introduction to Geofund, it is recommended, as several steps of this process are explained in greater detail within the workflow section of that guide.
When preparing a metal alloy in the Variants tab of Geofund with this method, the Level 1/Component ingredient should be the alloy name. Then each ingredient that makes up that alloy should be Level 2/Ingredient. In this case, the Level 2/Ingredients that make up the metal alloy will need to be reported using chemical registry numbers.
Once your metal alloy is reported with the alloy name as the component, and the elemental make up listed as ingredients using the CASRNs, you can proceed with the rest of your label, reporting the ingredients in the format of your preference.
When you reach the Summary tab and review the draft of your Declare label, scroll to the bottom of the webpage where you can find a summarized BOM. Within this summarized BOM, you can choose how you want your components to be displayed on the Declare label. In this metal alloy reporting pathway, you must select Component + substances from the Display Options drop down for the metal alloy component.
When using this alternative path, your label draft should appear with the metal alloy component in bold with the individual alloying elements listed in normal font after it, as shown in the example below.
Getting Help
If you have any questions or require additional support please contact declare.support@living-future.org. Declare also hosts regular office hours; sign up here.