Industry News | EU POPs Regulation Adds a New Substance
On August 8, 2023, the European Commission published the amendment (EU) 2023/1608 to the EU POPs Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, which formally lists PFHxS, its salts and related substances in Annex I of the POPs Regulation, prohibiting their manufacture, placing on the market and use. And will enter into force on the twentieth day after publication in the Official Journal.
These substances are commonly found in metal plating, firefighting foams, polishes, detergents, textiles, and electronics and semiconductor manufacturing, and are typical PFAS substances.
The PFAS restriction proposal is currently undergoing a six-month public consultation. Once adopted, it could be one of the largest chemical bans ever imposed in Europe and the most extensive regulation of the chemical industry in the EU.
As for PFHxS, the European Commission has previously published in its Official Journal on December 9, 2022, the amendment to the EU POPs Regulation (EU) 2023/1608, which includes PFHxS, its salts and related substances in the list of substances in Annex IV:
The inclusion of PFHxS, its salts and related substances in the list of substances in Annex IV is aimed at avoiding the contamination of waste with PFHxS, its salts and related substances and regulating waste containing such substances. Waste contaminated with these substances may be disposed of or recovered by other means in accordance with the relevant EU legislation, provided that the content of the listed substances in the waste is below the following concentration limits:
For PFHxS and its salts: 1 mg/kg (0.0001% by mass); for the sum of PFHxS-related compounds: 40 mg/kg (0.004% by mass).
It can be seen that European countries are paying more attention to PFAS substances, and the control regulations are getting stricter and stricter.
