THE EUROPEAN Union will push ahead with proposals to ban PFAS in consumer products, the EU’s environment commissioner Jessika Roswall told Reuters this week.
Roswall said that any ban is unlikely to be imposed until at least 2026 while the bloc considers exemptions requested by industry.
While PFAS is most well-known as the class of harmful “forever chemicals” used in non-stick pans and firefighting foams, industry figures deem it an “essential” component in industrial processes.
Prior to confirming plans to ban the chemicals from consumer goods, the EU held a six-month review in 2023 which attracted over 3,000 responses from companies that use PFAS, the majority requesting exemptions from any ban. The EU has highlighted asthma inhalers and semiconductors as products that will be subject to some exemptions, although the bloc stressed that disposal of these products will face greater restrictions.
A 2023 report from the European Association of Pump Manufacturers said it would “reject the broad restriction of PFAS, as many vital applications will not work without PFAS materials”. The report pointed to water transport, packaging production, heating, ventilation, and manufacturing as processes dependent on PFAS.
The association added that while it “fully supports the restriction of the release of PFAS into the environment”, the use of PFAS “should remain possible for those applications where no alternatives are available”.
A 2020 study identified over 200 individual uses of PFAS, most of which are industrial applications. According to data reported under the US Toxic Substances Control Act in 2016, at least 2,180 t of PFAS were used as functional fluid in electrical equipment manufacturing. This figure is likely underestimated, as some data remains inaccessible to the public due to commercial sensitivity.
The second largest user of PFAS was the refrigerant manufacturing industry.
The widespread use of PFAS is a contentious topic owing to links between the chemicals and testicular cancer, liver damage, and developmental disorders in unborn children.
To date, chemicals giant 3M has settled lawsuits over PFAS contamination of drinking water at a total cost of more than US$10bn, while DuPont has paid US$1.2bn in contamination lawsuits, including the famous case that inspired the film Dark Waters. 3M has pledged to cease all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025.
The EU’s decision to implement restrictions on PFAS, which contains more than 10,000 unique substances, comes amid similar discussions in the UK parliament. On Friday, MPs will vote on the second reading of the PFAS (Guidance) Bill which would make water companies legally liable to keep the amount of PFAS in water below 100ng/L.
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) believes the law should go much further, calling for the PFAS limit in drinking water to be 10ng/L, after finding a third of English and Welsh water sources contained “high” or “medium” risk levels of PFAS according to thresholds set by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
A YouGov survey published this week for the RSC found that 90% of respondents support PFAS control in food, drinking water, and the environment, while 84% support greater regulation of PFAS-using industries.
RSC policy advisor, Stephanie Metzger, said: “Citizens expect their government to use its existing powers and make new laws where necessary in order to effectively manage the manufacture, use, and disposal of these chemicals. Now is the time for all MPs to use that power to protect their constituents by enshrining in law stricter standards for our drinking water.”
Metzger also called on the government and industry to establish a national inventory of PFAS.
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