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Reference data from EU CLP Annex VI and published regulations — verify against your supplier's SDS before use.

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Health hazard · Germ cell mutagenicity

H340 — May cause genetic defects

Health hazard statements describe what the substance does to a person exposed to it. 427 substances with a harmonised EU classification carry this code.

EU CLP: currentUS OSHA HazCom: currentUS HazCom 2012: currentUN GHS: current

01 · Wording

What H340 says

Official

May cause genetic defects <state route of exposure if it is conclusively proven that no other routes of exposure cause the hazard>. The wording is incomplete on purpose. The route of exposure — stated only where it is conclusively proven that no other route of exposure causes the hazard.

Typical

May cause genetic defects. How it usually reads on a label and on a safety data sheet. We show it separately rather than presenting a filled-in blank as the regulation's own text.

Source

CLP Annex III · Health hazards

Classification
GHS08 pictogram — health hazard

Germ cell mutagenicity GHS chapter 3.5

Categories 1A, 1B · pictogram GHS08 (health hazard) · signal word Danger

Reading the official wording. <angle brackets> mark a blank the supplier fills in — not a truncated sentence.· UN GHS prints the same blanks in round brackets, CLP in angle ones.· P-codes use a different notation — an ellipsis and square brackets.

UN GHS history

Unchanged since 2009.

Rev.3 2009
Rev.4 2011
Rev.5 2013
Rev.6 2015
Rev.7 2017
Rev.8 2019
Rev.9 2021
Rev.10 2023
Rev.11 2025
wording never changed

Present in every UN GHS edition from Rev.3 (2009) to Rev.11 (2025), with the same wording throughout.

Nine editions of the UN model text, 86 hazard statements, 19 of which ever moved. Read the full story in what changed in UN GHS Rev.11.

02 · Languages

H340 in the 24 official EU languages

A label put on the market in an EU country must carry the wording of that country's own language version of CLP — not a translation of the English one. These 24 lines are quoted from the consolidated regulation, Annex III, and are the text to print.

LanguageOfficial wording of H340
BG български Bulgarian Може да причини генетични дефекти < да се посочи пътят на експозицията, ако е доказано убедително, че няма друг път на експозиция, който води до същата опасност >.
ES español Spanish Puede provocar defectos genéticos <Indíquese la vía de exposición si se ha demostrado concluyentemente que el peligro no se produce por ninguna otra vía >.
CS čeština Czech Může vyvolat genetické poškození <uveďte cestu expozice, je-li přesvědčivě prokázáno, že ostatní cesty expozice nejsou nebezpečné>.
DA dansk Danish Kan forårsage genetiske defekter <angiv eksponeringsvej, hvis det er endeligt påvist, at faren ikke kan frembringes ad nogen anden eksponeringsvej>.
DE Deutsch German Kann genetische Defekte verursachen <Expositionsweg angeben, sofern schlüssig belegt ist, dass diese Gefahr bei keinem anderen Expositionsweg besteht>.
ET eesti Estonian Võib põhjustada geneetilisi defekte <märkida kokkupuuteviis, kui on veenvalt tõestatud, et muud kokkupuuteviisid ei ole ohtlikud>.
EL ελληνικά Greek Μπορεί να προκαλέσει γενετικά ελαττώματα < αναφέρεται η οδός έκθεσης αν έχει αποδειχθεί αδιαμφισβήτητα ότι δεν υπάρχει κίνδυνος από τις άλλες οδούς έκθεσης >.
EN English English May cause genetic defects <state route of exposure if it is conclusively proven that no other routes of exposure cause the hazard>.
FR français French Peut induire des anomalies génétiques <indiquer la voie d'exposition s'il est formellement prouvé qu'aucune autre voie d'exposition ne conduit au même danger>.
GA Gaeilge Irish D'fhéadfadh sé a bheith ina chúis le héalanga géiniteacha <tabhair an bealach nochta má tá sé cruthaithe go cinntitheach nach bealach nochta ar bith eile is cúis leis an nguais>.
HR hrvatski Croatian Može izazvati genetska oštećenja <navesti način izloženosti ako je nedvojbeno dokazano da niti jedan drugi način izloženosti ne uzrokuje takvu opasnost>.
IT italiano Italian Può provocare alterazioni genetiche <indicare la via di esposizione se è accertato che nessun'altra via di esposizione comporta il medesimo pericolo>.
LV latviešu Latvian Var izraisīt ģenētiskus bojājumus <norādīt iedarbības ceļu, ja ir nepārprotami pierādīts, ka citi iedarbības ceļi nerada bīstamību>.
LT lietuvių Lithuanian Gali sukelti genetinius defektus <nurodyti veikimo būdą, jeigu įtikinamai nustatyta, kad kiti veikimo būdai nepavojingi>.
HU magyar Hungarian Genetikai károsodást okozhat < meg kell adni az expozíciós útvonalat, ha meggyőzően bizonyított, hogy más expozíciós útvonal nem okozza a veszélyt >.
MT Malti Maltese Jista’ jikkawża difetti ġenetiċi <semmi l-mod ta' espożizzjoni jekk ikun pruvat b'mod konklużiv li l-ebda mod ta' espożizzjoni ieħor ma jikkawża l-periklu>.
NL Nederlands Dutch Kan genetische schade veroorzaken <blootstellingsroute vermelden indien afdoende bewezen is dat het gevaar bij andere blootstellingsroutes niet aanwezig is>.
PL polski Polish Może powodować wady genetyczne <podać drogę narażenia, jeżeli definitywnie udowodniono, że inna droga narażenia nie powoduje zagrożenia>.
PT português Portuguese Pode provocar anomalias genéticas <indicar a via de exposição se existirem provas concludentes de que o perigo não decorre de nenhuma outra via de exposição>.
RO română Romanian Poate provoca anomalii genetice <indicați calea de expunere, dacă există probe concludente că nicio altă cale de expunere nu provoacă acest pericol>.
SK slovenčina Slovak Môže spôsobovať genetické poškodenie <uveďte spôsob expozície, ak sa presvedčivo preukáže, že iné spôsoby expozície nevyvolávajú nebezpečenstvo>.
SL slovenščina Slovenian Lahko povzroči genetske okvare <navesti način izpostavljenosti, če je prepričljivo dokazano, da noben drug način izpostavljenosti ne povzroča takšne nevarnosti>.
FI suomi Finnish Saattaa aiheuttaa perimävaurioita <mainitaan altistumisreitti, jos on kiistatta osoitettu, että vaara ei voi aiheutua muiden altistumisreittien kautta>.
SV svenska Swedish Kan orsaka genetiska defekter <ange exponeringsväg om det är definitivt bevisat att faran inte kan orsakas av några andra exponeringsvägar>.

Source: CELEX:02008R1272-20260501, Annex III. © European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu — only the electronic Official Journal of the European Union is authentic. Irish is one of the 24 official languages and its H and P texts are printed inside the multilingual Annex tables, but no consolidated CLP has ever been published in Irish — which is why an Irish-primary label cannot be built here.

03 · Legal status

Where H340 is current

GHS is a United Nations model text, revised every two years, and each jurisdiction adopts a revision on its own timetable. A code can be legally current in one system and deleted in another — that is normal, not an error.

JurisdictionBasisStatus of H340
EU CLP Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 CLP Annex IV, Part 2 (consolidated) Current
US OSHA HazCom 29 CFR 1910.1200 Appendix C UN GHS Rev.7 (final rule of 20 May 2024) Current
US HazCom 2012 legacy · GHS Rev.3 UN GHS Rev.3, Annex 3 Current
UN GHS Rev.11 (2025) UN GHS Rev.11, Annex 3 Current

Currently in force under: EU CLP, US OSHA HazCom, US HazCom 2012, UN GHS. Sources: EU CLP · US OSHA HazCom · US HazCom 2012 · UN GHS

04 · Substances

Substances carrying H340

Every entry whose harmonised CLP Annex VI classification includes this hazard statement. Substances with a reference page here open on this site; the rest open on ghssymbols.com.

427 of 427 shown

Nothing matches that filter.

All hazard statements

The full list of H-codes with the jurisdiction switch lives on the hazard statements hub. For what to do about the hazard, see precautionary statements (P-codes).

Wording quoted from the regulation named above. Substance counts come from harmonised classifications in CLP Annex VI — the statements on a real product also depend on the supplier's own classification. Always check the supplier safety data sheet.

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