EU puts 200 PFAS out of business – but thousands remain

The EU has decided to ban 200 PFAS substances in phases, starting February 2023. This is the first time the EU has imposed a ban on several chemicals of similar structure and properties all at once, which hopefully paves the way for more group bans.
The restriction follows on a proposal from the Swedish Chemicals Agency (KEMI) and the German Environment Agency (UBA) made back in 2017.
Although the actual ban only covers six long-chained PFAS chemicals (where the molecules consist of between 9 and 14 fluorinated carbon atoms), the number of PFAS being restricted is 200, since they can all be broken down into one of the banned six substances.
Short-chained PFAS need to be banned as well
ChemSec’s Senior Toxicologist Dr. Anna Lennquist is cautiously optimistic, even if she thinks this particular group ban leaves much to be desired:
“For years, we have argued that short-chained PFAS are also very problematic. While the long ones accumulate in animals and humans, the short ones are a big problem in water sources, as they cannot be captured, which means that we cannot purify water from short-chained PFAS.”
  “We cannot purify water from short-chained PFAS”
PFAS chemicals are man-made substances, valued in various production industries for their ability to repel grease, water and dirt. The estimated number of PFAS chemicals in production seems to increase constantly and is now well above 5,000 substances with similar structure and properties.
The problem with all PFAS is that they break down extremely slowly – hence the nickname “forever chemicals”. They are also often toxic, linked to various cancers, infertility, lowered birth weights and negative effects on the immune system. A recent Swedish verdict classified high levels of PFAS as a personal injury, even if the person affected has not yet fallen ill.
Is this the beginning of the end for forever chemicals?
Another problem is that PFAS – with very few exceptions, up until this new group ban – has been perfectly legal to use. With substances being banned one at a time and the banning process being highly time consuming, it doesn’t take a lot of math skills to figure out that it would be virtually impossible to get rid of thousands of PFAS from production by banning them one by one. That is why this first PFAS group ban is so important.
 “This restriction is a step in the right direction, but we are by no means finished”
On the downside, it seems that the 200 substances are not frequently used anyway.
In addition, the concentration-level limits are set so high that regulation – in most cases – allows continued production, as long as the restricted PFAS are only byproducts.
“The limit values are set high so that the industry should be able to meet them relatively easily. But the limits must definitely be lowered gradually, and – above all – we need more and broader PFAS bans. This restriction is a step in the right direction, but we are by no means finished”, says Dr. Anna Lennquist.

欧盟让200家PFAS破产，但仍有数千家
欧盟决定从2023年2月开始分阶段禁止200种PFAS物质。这是欧盟首次同时禁止几种结构和性质相似的化学物质，这有望为更多的集体禁令铺平道路。
这一限制是根据瑞典化学署(KEMI)和德国环境署(UBA)在2017年提出的一项建议制定的。
虽然实际禁令只涵盖六种长链全氟化碳化合物(分子由9至14个氟化碳原子组成)，但被限制的全氟化碳化合物数量为200种，因为它们都可以分解为被禁止的六种物质之一。
短链PFAS也需要被禁止
ChemSec的高级毒理学家安娜·伦奎斯特(Anna Lennquist)博士持谨慎乐观态度，尽管她认为这一特殊的群体禁令还有很多不足之处:
“多年来，我们一直认为短链PFAS也存在很大问题。虽然长链PFAS在动物和人类体内积累，但短链PFAS在水源中是一个大问题，因为它们无法捕获，这意味着我们无法从短链PFAS中净化水。”
“我们不能用短链PFAS净化水”
PFAS化学品是人造物质，在各种生产工业中因其击退油脂、水和污垢的能力而受到重视。生产中的全氟辛烷磺酸化学品的估计数量似乎在不断增加，目前已远远超过5000种具有相似结构和性质的物质。
所有全氟化钠的问题在于它们分解极其缓慢，因此被称为“永久化学品”。它们通常是有毒的，与各种癌症、不孕症、出生体重降低以及对免疫系统的负面影响有关。瑞典最近的一项裁决将高水平的PFAS列为人身伤害，即使受影响的人尚未生病。
 
这是永远终结化学制品的开始吗?
另一个问题是，PFAS的使用是完全合法的，直到这项新的团体禁令出台之前，几乎没有例外。由于一种物质被一次禁止，而且禁止的过程非常耗时，不需要很多数学技能就能知道，通过逐个禁止数千种PFAS，实际上是不可能从生产中摆脱的。这就是为什么第一次PFAS团体禁令如此重要。
“这一限制是朝着正确方向迈出的一步，但我们还没有结束。”
但不利的一面是，这200种物质似乎并不经常使用。
此外，在大多数情况下，浓度水平的限制是如此之高，以至于允许继续生产，只要受限制的PFAS只是副产品。
“限制值设置得很高，所以行业应该能够相对容易地满足它们。但一定要逐步降低这些限制，最重要的是，我们需要更多和更广泛的PFAS禁令。这个限制是朝着正确方向迈出的一步，但我们还没有结束。

更多信息请点击官方链接：https://chemsec.org/eu-puts-200-pfas-out-of-business-but-thousands-remain/

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