PFAS and the Non

By Jason Malcore, AEM Senior Director of Safety & Product Leadership —

On Feb. 7, 2023, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published a proposal from five European Union (EU) member states; Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, looking to address the risks to the environment and human health from Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) through the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) restriction process.

The restriction proposal would largely eliminate most PFAS uses in solids and liquids above very small thresholds throughout Europe. If the proposal is adopted as written by the EU Commission without any derogations (exemptions) for the non-road equipment industry, affected companies will be forbidden from importing or manufacturing PFAS, or products containing PFAS, in the EU by 2027.

PFAS are a large group of synthetic chemical compounds characterized by their unique carbon-fluorine structure. The PFAS family contains thousands of chemicals known for their resistance to heat, pressure, chemicals and friction stressors, their low surface tension, as well as their thermal and chemical stability.

The non-road equipment industry operates in a diverse set of end-use applications in harsh environments with extremely long product life cycles. PFAS provides many crucial characteristics necessary to meet various equipment design challenges across the industry. Due to these unique characteristics, PFAS will be found in:

The general public, politicians and the global regulatory community are increasingly expressing concerns over the historic uses and proliferation of PFAS around the world. Various legislative and regulatory bodies are moving quickly to address these concerns. In the United States alone, there have been more than 200 legislative and regulatory actions addressing PFAS across three dozen U.S. states. For the most part, these types of governmental actions focus on the following:

However, many of these proposals use a broad definition of PFAS and include a multitude of intended uses, risking the off-road equipment industry's access to all PFAS chemistries.

The most expansive and consequential of these proposals is the EU PFAS restriction under the EU's REACH regulation. REACH is the European law which requires companies to register certain chemicals they manufacturer, or import, in Europe. This law gives ECHA the authority to administer and enforce the various provisions found in REACH.

Part of this authority includes forwarding proposals to the EU Commission on identified hazardous chemicals for official inclusion on the REACH Annex XVII, also known as the restriction list. Chemicals included on the restriction list are subject to various regulatory control measures, which may include handling and production controls, restrictions on use or full substance bands.

The restriction proposal under consideration includes a variety of provisions manufacturers need to be aware of:

ECHA announced On March 22, 2023, the start of a six-month consultation regarding the PFAS restriction proposal. The consultation period allows for stakeholders to comment on the rule and make requests for additional derogations from the restrictions found in the proposal. This opportunity is the off-road industry's best chance to engage with ECHA and the EU Commission to receive the necessary derogations under the law.

The AEM Substances Compliance Council (SCC) is currently working to address this issue and intends to engage further with relevant industry stakeholders throughout the rulemaking process. If you or your company have any questions or want to know how to get more involved, feel free to reach out to AEM's Jason Malcore at [email protected].

For more perspectives from AEM staff, subscribe to the AEM Industry Advisor.