Update on the U-PFAS Restriction Process
In their September meetings, the European Chemical Agency’s (ECHA) scientific committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) discussed the following sectors from the U-PFAS restriction:
- Petroleum and mining
- Textiles, upholstery, leather, apparel, and carpets (TULAC)
- Food contact material and packaging
The committees provisionally concluded on their evaluation of the petroleum and mining sector. Discussions on the other two sectors—TULAC and food contact material and packaging—will continue in the November meetings.
RAC agreed to revise how PFAS emissions are calculated across different sectors with a focus on the waste stage, for example emissions from waste disposal and incineration. The revised approach emphasises the need to distinguish between PFAS particle emissions (solid) and those that leach from materials. This distinction is important because the concerns related to fluoropolymer particles differ from those associated with non-polymeric PFAS.
The committees also announced the sectors they will evaluate in the upcoming November meetings, where construction products will also be discussed for the first time. The next sectors for discussion are scheduled for upcoming meetings in 2025:
- Applications of fluorinated gases
- Transport
- Energy
The table below outlines the current status of the evaluation and the committees’ upcoming plans for assessing the potential impacts of the restriction across various sectors using PFAS. As the work of the committees progresses, more sectors will be announced. The table will be updated accordingly.
The conclusions agreed at RAC and SEAC meetings are provisional until the committees finalise the evaluation of the entire restriction proposal (including all sectors of use) and adopt their opinions. These opinions will then be communicated to the public.
ECHA is making every effort to progress opinion-making, following the updates made to the proposal by the five national authorities. It will deliver the final opinions to the European Commission in the shortest possible timeframe while ensuring their transparency, independence, and high quality.
The final decision on the restriction will be taken by the European Commission together with the EU Member States.
Sandy Van den Broeck,
ESG Director, ESA