NEWS

Do you Know PFAS?

What are Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)?

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl compound substances (PFAS), are a vast group of organic fluorine compounds containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom. Because of their properties, which include water and oil resistance, stability under extreme temperatures and chemical inertness, since the 1940s, PFAS have been widely used in many industrial and consumer products as textile, leather finishes, packaging materials, non-stick coating in cookware, and so on. There are thousands of different PFAS, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others.

Toxicity and exposure

One common characteristic of concern of PFAS is that many break down very slowly and can build up in people, animals, and the environment over time. Current scientific research suggests that exposure to high levels of certain PFAS may lead to adverse health outcomes. However, research is still ongoing to determine how different levels of exposure to different PFAS can lead to a variety of health effects. Research is also underway to better understand the health effects associated with low levels of exposure to PFAS over long periods of time, especially in children.

Legal requirements

Recognizing the dangers that PFAS pose to human health and the environment, the governments and consumer protection agencies of many countries have been taking steps towards stricter regulation and subsequent elimination of PFAS, including the European Union, the United States and Asian markets. Industrial organizations such as Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHS) Foundation, etc.

List of Some PFAS Regulations:

PFAS Risk Management

You should collect and grasp the full Bill Of Substance (BOS) of all raw materials and scanned these against a pool of hazardous constituents listed in all common regulations in the US and Europe. Currently total 4729 kinds of PFAS have been disclosed from the EPA official website https://comptox.epa.gov/dashboard/chemical-lists/PFASOECD. Some PFAS regulations do not provide a clear list of substances. For example, California AB 652 prohibit PFAS’ containing at least one full fluorinated carbon atom. EU 2021/1297 restricts linear and branched perfluorocarboxylic acids containing 9 to 14 carbon atoms in the chain (C9-C14 PFCA), their salts, and other related substances under EU REACH. However, some regulations fail to provide a list with limited number of target PFAS. This causes difficulties in assessing the risk and measuring the presence of restricted PFAS in a product.

Anyway, you have required the supplier to provide a guarantee letter of raw materials to guarantees that there are no-fluoride substances and compounds in all sourced materials.

Also, maybe the Total Fluorine Screening is applicable to quick method to check any non-intentionally added fluorinated substance, or any contamination of fluorinated substance in the final product. And you can use individual PFAS test to fulfil EU POP and REACH regulatory PFAS substance requirements and focus on market requirements and worldwide regulation.

Should you have any concern regarding the subject matter, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your kind attention and continued support.