European Chemicals Agency Committees Support EU-Wide Regulatory Action on PFAS
The two scientific committees of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) and the Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC), support restricting the manufacture and use of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the European Union, an ECHA news release announced on March 26. The proposal to restrict PFAS in the EU was submitted to ECHA in 2023 by the national authorities of the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
According to a Q&A document prepared by ECHA about the proposed restriction (PDF), the proposal is “the most extensive in the history of the EU, both in terms of number of chemicals and range of uses covered.” The scope of the proposal covers more than 10,000 PFAS and includes a group approach for the substances, meaning that even PFAS that are currently unidentified or have not yet been manufactured are included as to avoid what ECHA calls “regrettable substitution.” The only use of PFAS not included in the scope of the proposed restriction is in firefighting foams, which the European Commission addressed in a separate restriction adopted in October.
RAC, which adopted its final opinion on the proposed PFAS restriction on March 2, is responsible for determining whether the suggested restrictions are appropriate in order to reduce risks to human health and the environment. RAC’s opinion, as summarized in ECHA’s news release, is that further EU-wide regulatory action is needed to control the risks of PFAS and that risk management measures should be put in place to minimize emissions in the case of any derogations for specific uses.
SEAC’s role is to examine related socio-economic impacts. The committee’s draft opinion on the PFAS restriction proposal was published in March, and a consultation during which stakeholders can provide input to help inform SEAC’s final opinion is open until May 25. The committee expects to adopt its final opinion by the end of this year.
“The SEAC draft opinion supports a broad restriction on PFAS, while recognizing the need for targeted derogations to keep the measure proportionate and workable,” María Ottati, the chairperson of SEAC, explains. “This balanced approach will reduce PFAS emissions while allowing certain uses to continue where an immediate ban would, on balance, lead to more negative than positive impacts.”
Once adopted, the final opinions of ECHA’s two scientific committees will be sent to the European Commission. According to ECHA, the commission will consider the opinions as it works to propose a restriction for discussion and vote in the committee on REACH, the EU’s regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals. The REACH Committee includes EU member states.
More information can be found in ECHA’s March 26 news release and in the Q&A document (PDF) about the proposed PFAS restrictions.