Document gEDxpM52qyaNO4BBXz09er1eG

EU policy and regulatory overview PFAS Global Conference 24 March 2022 European Commission DG Environnement Council of the European Union 2019: "CALLS on the Commission to develop [...] an action plan to eliminate all nonessential uses of PFAS" Letter from Member States to European Commission 2019 asking for EU Action Plan for PFAS European Parliament 2020: ,,Urges the Commission to set firm deadlines [...] to ensure the speedy phasing out of all nonessential uses of PFAS" European Commission 2020: Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability PFAS the only substance group explicitly mentioned PFAS Action Plan European Green Deal Zero pollution ambition for a toxic free environment Very persistent chemicals CSS and PFAS Action Plan Circular economy action plan Zero pollution action plan Soil Strategy Chemicals strategy for sustainability Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) require special attention, considering the large number of cases of contamination of soil and water - including drinking water - in the EU and globally, the number of people affected with a full spectrum of illnesses and the related societal and economic costs. That is why the Commission proposes a comprehensive set of actions to address the use of and contamination with PFAS. Those aim to ensure, in particular, that the use of PFAS is phased out in the EU, unless it is proven essential for society. The Commission will ban all PFAS in fire-fighting foams as well as in other uses, allowing their use only where they are essential for society Chemicals strategy for sustainability define criteria for essential uses to ensure that the most harmful chemicals are only allowed if their use is necessary for health, safety or is critical for the functioning of society and if there are no alternatives propose new hazard classes and criteria in the CLP Regulation to fully address environmental toxicity, persistency, mobility and bioaccumulation; introduce endocrine disruptors, persistent, mobile and toxic and very persistent and very mobile substances as categories of substances of very high concern PFAS action plan Soil strategy Preventing the release of hazardous substances into soil (including PFAS) Soil Health Law: legally binding provisions to identify contaminated sites, set up an inventory and register of those sites and remediate the sites that pose a significant risk to human health and the environment by 2050. Actions on PFAS under REACH PFHxA restriction: COM will soon receive ECHA's Committees opinion All PFAS in fire-fighting foams: ECHA submitted the dossier on January 14th All other uses of PFAS: dossier under preparation by NL, DE, DK, SE, NO (submission July 2022) https://echa.europa.eu/hot-topics/perfluoroalkylchemicals-pfas Water legislation Drinking Water Directive sum of PFAS limit: 0.1 g/l all PFAS limit: 0.5 g/l January 2026 By January 2024: COM to publish technical guidelines on analytical methods Water legislation Impact assessment on going for: Water Framework Directive Current limit for PFOS to be reviewed Considering limits for 24 PFAS Groundwater Directive: options Setting an EU limit for a group of 10 Setting an EU limit for all PFAS MS to set limits for specific PFAS Public consultation: precautionary principle and polluter pays principle to be considered for contaminants of emerging concern COM proposal to be adopted in 2022 Food Contaminants Regulation EFSA opinion: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/news/pfas-food-efsaassesses-risks-and-sets-tolerable-intake TWI of 4.4 ng/kg bw Part of EU population exceeds the TWI Discussion started with MS to set maximum levels in food + recommendation for monitoring PFAS in some foods COM proposal expected in summer 2022 Thank you Links to relevant EU strategies: https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-20192024/european-green-deal_en https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/zero-pollutionaction-plan_en https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/chemicalsstrategy_en https://ec.europa.eu/environment/publications/eu-soilstrategy-2030_en