Regulating PFAS compounds for a safer environment

Participants in the recent IEC PFAS workshop.

The restriction on the use of PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is gaining traction worldwide. The United States, the European Union and other countries have begun discussing regulations.

What is PFAS and why does it need regulation?

Dr. Miyuki Takenaka, Chair of IEC Technical Committee 111 explained that "PFAS are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds resistant to water, oil, heat and to chemicals. It has been widely used as a water repellent, a surface treatment agent, an emulsifier, a fire extinguishing agent, a coating agent, etc. While these properties are useful in products, many countries are considering regulations because of the chemical compounds' persistent nature in our environment."

The challenge

Developing adequate and effective test methodologies is a challenge. The Working Group 3 in TC 111 develops test methods for certain substances to help comply with regulations such as the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP), Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) directive.

Dr. Takenaka explained the issue further, "Since there are thousands of PFAS compounds, it is difficult to quantify all these components individually, and there are major technical challenges for the measurement. All over the world, providing testing methods for PFAS is desired."

A dedicated PFAS workshop to find solutions

To meet this demand, IEC TC 111/WG 3 held a workshop dedicated to PFAS at IEC Asia-Pacific Regional Centre (IEC-APRC) in Singapore in May. Speakers included leaders in the fields of industry and representatives from the ISO, ASTM and CEN as well as experts driving the standards. Each speaker introduced the challenges of PFAS measurement based on their experiences indicating the importances of comprehensive countermeasures such as collecting and evaluating the latest scientific knowledge and the detection status in the products. Everyone on the panel agreed that it is critical to take measures as efficiently as possible, such as rationally prioritizing a large number of substances.

IEC President, Jo Cops, also attended the workshop and sent a congratulatory message to the participants. Mr. Cops mentioned that one of the main strategies of IEC is fostering a sustainable world, and TC 111 has a crucial role to play in contributing to the realization of sustainability through its various initiatives for environmental standardization.

Dr. Jaehak Jung, Co-Convener of the working group concluded that the IEC/TC 111/WG 3 will soon launch this important work around PFAS by collaborating with many stakeholders across the world.

In addition to testing methods for chemical substances, the IEC/TC 111 provides guidance and standards on issues such as ecodesign (considering life cycles), ecodesign for material circularity, reused components, information exchange about materials, chemical, and circularity, Product Category Rule (PCR), greenhouse gas, e-waste management, recyclability and EOL(end-of-life) information through the life cycle of products and services.

You can watch the replay of the PFAS workshop here.