--- title: "We sell a product in a spray can" description: "Directive 75/324/EEC covers non-reusable aerosol dispensers of metal, glass or plastic from 50 ml up to set maximum capacities. The person responsible for marketing must meet the construction, pressure and test requirements in the Annex, classify the flammability, and mark each can with the inverted epsilon, its name and address, a batch code, the net contents and the required warnings." type: "problem" url: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/aerosol-product/" markdown: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/aerosol-product.md" locale: "en" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-04" author: "Conphora compliance team" publisher: "Conphora" source: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01975L0324-20180212" tags: ["AerD", "chemicals-materials"] license: "Free to quote with attribution and a link to the page" --- # We sell a product in a spray can Directive 75/324/EEC covers non-reusable aerosol dispensers of metal, glass or plastic from 50 ml up to set maximum capacities. The person responsible for marketing must meet the construction, pressure and test requirements in the Annex, classify the flammability, and mark each can with the inverted epsilon, its name and address, a batch code, the net contents and the required warnings. ## Why this happens Spray cans have their own directive: Council Directive 75/324/EEC on aerosol dispensers. It applies to any non-reusable container made of metal, glass or plastic that contains a gas compressed, liquefied or dissolved under pressure, with or without a liquid, paste or powder, and that has a release device (Article 2). Containers under 50 ml and containers above the maximum capacities in the Annex are outside it (Article 1): 1 000 ml for metal, 220 ml for plastic-coated or protected glass and 150 ml for unprotected glass. Plastic containers follow the glass limits: 150 ml if they may splinter on bursting, 220 ml if they cannot (points 5.1 and 5.2). [1] The directive puts its duties on "the person responsible for the marketing" of the dispenser. That person affixes the inverted epsilon, the symbol '3', as proof that the dispenser satisfies the directive and its Annex (Article 3), and must guarantee the tests in point 6.1 of the Annex. Those include a hydraulic test on empty containers, a bursting test for metal containers, and a final inspection of every filled dispenser, by a hot water bath or an approved alternative. A hot or cold alternative needs the approval of a competent authority, and the approval, the technical file and any control reports must be kept at the address on the label (point 6.1.4.3). [1] The Annex also requires the person responsible for marketing to analyse the hazards of the dispenser, where appropriate including the inhalation risk of the spray, and to design, construct and test it on that basis (point 2). It sets the design limits. The filled dispenser must comply under normal conditions of use and storage, the valve must be protected against unintentional opening, and the contents must not weaken the container (point 2.1). The liquid phase at 50 °C must not exceed 90 % of the net capacity (point 2.3), and for metal containers the pressure at 50 °C must not exceed 12, 13.2 or 15 bar depending on the gas (point 3.1.2). The current pressure table in point 3.1.2 and the labelling rules in point 2.2 were inserted by Directive (EU) 2016/2037, which Member States had to apply from 12 February 2018; the 90 % liquid phase rule dates from an earlier amendment. [1][2] Labelling is set out in Article 8 and point 2.2 of the Annex. Each can, or an attached label for cans of 150 ml or less, must carry the name and address or trade mark of the person responsible for marketing, the inverted epsilon, batch code markings, the details in point 2.2 and the net contents by weight and by volume. Point 2.2 links the warnings to the flammability class in point 1.9: the signal word and label elements of Aerosols category 1, 2 or 3 under the CLP Regulation, the precautionary statement P102 for consumer products, and any additional operating precautions. [1] The directive works without prejudice to the CLP Regulation, and the contents of the can may fall under other rules too, for example cosmetics or detergents. A Member State may still provisionally prohibit or restrict a compliant dispenser that it finds hazardous on a substantive justification, and must inform the other Member States and the Commission (Article 10). [1] ## How to solve it 1. **Check that the can is in scope** The directive applies to non-reusable containers of metal, glass or plastic holding a gas under pressure and fitted with a release device. It does not apply below 50 ml or above the maximum capacities in the Annex, such as 1 000 ml for metal containers and 220 ml for plastic-coated glass. 2. **Classify the flammability** Use the Annex criteria. Contents are flammable if any component is a flammable liquid, solid or gas as defined in point 1.8. The aerosol is then non-flammable, flammable or extremely flammable according to point 1.9, based on the share of flammable components and the chemical heat of combustion. 3. **Confirm pressure, filling and construction limits** Ask the filler for the can's test pressure, the pressure at 50 °C and the liquid phase volume. For metal cans, the pressure at 50 °C must stay under the table values in point 3.1.2, and the liquid phase at 50 °C must not exceed 90 % of the net capacity. 4. **Make sure every filled can is tested** Each filled can goes through a final test: the hot water bath, or a hot or cold alternative. An alternative method must be approved by a competent authority, and the approval and its technical file must be kept at the address on the label. 5. **Build the label from Article 8 and point 2.2** Mark the name and address or trade mark of the person responsible for marketing, the inverted epsilon, a batch code, the net contents by weight and by volume, and the CLP label elements for the aerosol category. Consumer products also carry P102. Where a can of 150 ml or less has no room, use an attached label. ## What you need to show - **Flammability classification with the composition and heat of combustion data** — The formulator or the filler (Directive 75/324/EEC Annex, points 1.8, 1.9 and 1.10) - **Container test pressure, pressure at 50 °C and final test records per batch** — The can supplier and the filler (Directive 75/324/EEC Annex, points 3.1, 6.1.1 to 6.1.4) - **Approval and technical file for an alternative final test method, if used** — The person responsible for marketing (Directive 75/324/EEC Annex, point 6.1.4.3) - **Label artwork with the Article 8 particulars** — The person responsible for marketing (Directive 75/324/EEC Article 8(1) and (1a); Annex point 2.2) ## If you do nothing - **Free movement covers compliant cans only** — Member States may not refuse, prohibit or restrict an aerosol dispenser that complies with the directive and its Annex for reasons related to those requirements (Directive 75/324/EEC Article 4). A can that does not comply has no such protection. - **A Member State can stop sales of a hazardous can** — If a Member State finds, on a substantive justification, that a dispenser represents a hazard to safety or health even though it complies, it may provisionally prohibit its sale or subject it to special conditions (Article 10(1)). - **Labels can be demanded in the national language** — Member States may make the marketing of aerosol dispensers conditional on the use of their national language or languages for the wording on the label (Directive 75/324/EEC Article 8(2)). For online sales, the Court of Justice has held that such labelling requirements of the Member State where the targeted consumers are fall outside the coordinated field of the e-commerce Directive (Case C-88/23). ## Questions ### Does a spray can need CE marking? The Aerosol Dispensers Directive uses its own symbol. The person responsible for marketing affixes the inverted epsilon, '3', as proof that the dispenser satisfies the directive and its Annex (Directive 75/324/EEC Article 3). The directive applies without prejudice to the CLP Regulation (Article 8(1)), and the contents may fall under other rules too, such as the Cosmetics Regulation. ### What if the can is very small? Cans under 50 ml are outside the directive (Article 1). For cans of 150 ml or less, where the particulars cannot be put on the can because of its size, a label attached to it must carry them (Article 8(1)). ### Our spray contains some flammable solvent but is not classed as flammable. Anything to add? Yes. If the contents include flammable components but the aerosol is not flammable or extremely flammable under point 1.9, the label must state 'X % by mass of the contents are flammable' (Directive 75/324/EEC Article 8(1a)). ### When did the current pressure limits start to apply? Directive (EU) 2016/2037 replaced the pressure table in point 3.1.2, allowing up to 15 bar for compressed or dissolved gases without a flammable range, and replaced the labelling in point 2.2 to align it with the CLP Regulation. Member States had to apply it from 12 February 2018 (Article 2(1)). ## Regulations involved AerD ## Sources 1. [Council Directive 75/324/EEC on aerosol dispensers (consolidated text of 12 February 2018)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01975L0324-20180212) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04 2. [Commission Directive (EU) 2016/2037 amending Council Directive 75/324/EEC](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016L2037) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04 3. [Judgment of the Court of 19 September 2024, Parfümerie Akzente, C-88/23](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62023CJ0088) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04