The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has removed an exemption for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reporting, requiring companies to submit data on products containing any level of PFAS to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) each year. Previously, those containing minimal concentrations of PFAS were exempt.

Within the Restrictions Roadmap under the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, ECHA has released its Regulatory Strategy for Flame Retardants (FRs). This refers mainly to halogenated FRs and organophosphorus-based FRs, which make up about 70% of the organic FR market.

The strategy identified aromatic brominated FEs (BFRs) as candidates for EU-wide restriction on five classes of aromatic BFRs that are already or will be confirmed to be persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, or very persistent and very bioaccumulative, or identified as substances of very high concern.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published a proposed restriction of around 10,000 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on its website. Its scientific committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) will now start evaluating the proposal.

This followed three years of investigations by the national authorities of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. In a report submitted to ECHA on 13 January, they concluded that the risks from PFAS are not adequately controlled and should therefore be restricted.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published two reports on the direct and indirect effects of REACH in driving the substitution of hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. This was based on a survey of industry associations and over 80 companies, many of which had been affected by REACH processes.