Regulators on the Frontline

Eric Wood, Rick Parkman, and Annette Nolan look at how policymakers are responding to the challenges of PFAS globally

AS PUBLIC awareness grows about PFAS risks, regulators across the world are scrambling to put in place guidance or regulations to protect human health and the environment. While there are global treaties that play a key role in stopping or reducing the production, use, and potential environmental releases of these compounds (such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants¹), most regulatory activity is currently centred in the US, Europe, the UK, and Australia.

More recently we have started to see more collaboration between regulators as they strive to meet the complexity of the challenges of PFAS, occurring at different levels (local, state, federal and between countries). However, authoritative bodies are not well aligned on issues such as toxicity, for example. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its opinion in 2020, but this differed from the World Health Organization, while the UK’s Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) has only published an interim position. There is also uncertainty surrounding the US, with deregulation at the forefront of the Trump administration’s agenda.

Here at Ramboll, we’re monitoring how these regulations are taking shape so we can advise clients how to respond.

Europe

Europe has increased regulation over the past few years concerning the occurrence and potential exposure of human health and/or ecosystems to PFAS in products, food and food contact materials, drinking water, groundwater, surface water, and waste. Some countries have introduced additional regulations for PFAS in soil and/or more stringent regulatory thresholds than those set by the EU (eg Denmark). Regulatory thresholds in air have not yet been set, but are gaining closer attention, partly in anticipation of increasing volumes of PFAS-containing wastes being sent for incineration.

Restrictions apply for some PFAS under existing REACH (registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals) regulations, and proposals are being evaluated for a restrictive ban on PFAS in firefighting foams and for a “universal ban” on PFAS in all other uses. The proposed universal ban is extensive, aimed at restricting the manufacture, sale, and use of PFAS based on the OECD 2021 definition. This definition – covering substances with at least one fully fluorinated methyl (CF3-) or methylene (-CF2-) carbon atom – includes approximately 10,000 chemicals. Notably, it includes some substances that were previously not considered PFAS, such as fluoropolymers like PTFE (Teflon) and F-gases used in refrigerants.

The EU is progressing these initiatives but delays and/or extensions are proposed or anticipated for some implementation timelines. The regulatory decision process is complex, with notable discussion underway as to what constitutes “essential use” (for ongoing authorisation) and whether regulatory change is needed within the timelines as currently proposed. It is envisioned that change will be implemented gradually over several years.

In 2020, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued a revised safety threshold for four PFAS: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS). This threshold helps assess potential health risks from PFAS in food and supports regulatory bodies in setting safety standards to limit exposure through other pathways. Its applicability continues to be debated but is used in the absence of other recognised standards. In 2024, the findings of an EFSA study were published using new approach methodologies to explore the immunotoxicity of these four PFAS, which suggests their potency is not the same and exemplifies the uncertainties implicit in current regulatory limits.

Drinking water limits of 0.1 micrograms per litre (µg/L) for the sum of 20 PFAS and 0.5 µg/L for “PFAS total” are established in the revised Drinking Water Directive and is expected to be enforceable across all member states from January 2026. The European Commission has also proposed amendments to the Water Framework Directive, Groundwater Directive, and Environmental Quality Standards Directive. A new Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) is proposed for 24 PFAS of 4.4 nanograms per litre (ng/L) based on relative potency factors with PFOA. For groundwater, alignment with the revised Drinking Water Directive for the 20 PFAS is proposed as well as a standard for the four EFSA PFAS, reflecting groundwater as a key resource for drinking water. It is unclear whether the existing Environmental Quality Standard for PFOS (0.065 ng/L) will be replaced by this proposal if or when it comes into force.

Some countries have responded more swiftly by implementing country-specific regulations and proposals, sometimes in direct reaction to individual cases (eg Flanders, Belgium, where a construction project highlighted the need to address PFAS contamination from a manufacturing facility).