(7 February 2024) It has been one year since the universal PFAS restriction proposal was published by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
By this point, according to the REACH law, the agency should have entered the final stage of its opinion-making process and published the socioeconomic opinion for a 60-day consultation. However, ECHA has previously announced that the assessment will take longer than usual due to the high complexity of the file and the large number of comments submitted on the proposal.
Other regions of the world are charging ahead with PFAS restrictions. New Zealand recently decided to ban all PFAS in cosmetics “to align with developments in the EU”, and several US states have banned PFAS in a range of consumer products such as food packaging, textiles, cosmetics, and children’s articles.
At the beginning of this year, the US will adopt more stringent PFAS thresholds in drinking water at the federal level. Japan is considering strengthening its water quality standards for PFAS as well.
Documents
- ECHA, webpage of the restriction proposal
- New Zealand Environmental protection agency, webpage on the PFAS ban in cosmetics and decision (25 Jan. 2024)
- Safer States, database on PFAS-related laws in the USA
- Holland & Knight, article on US updating PFAS thresholds in drinking water (29 Mar. 2023)
- The Asahi Shimbun, press article on discussions to strengthen water quality in Japan (Jan. 2023)
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