European Union

  • ECHA updates stakeholders on SEAC consultation for PFAS restriction – On 30 October 2025, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) held a webinar outlining the upcoming consultation on the expected draft Opinion of the Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) regarding the proposed PFAS restriction under REACH. A presentation summarising the consultation process was published alongside the webinar. Recording is available here.

    The consultation will focus on the 14 sectors and applications originally identified in the first restriction proposal; eight additional sectors identified later in the process are not included. Stakeholders will be invited to provide feedback through a structured survey, featuring choice-based, numerical, and free-text questions, without attachments or supporting tables and links.

    SEAC aims to finalise its draft Opinion in March 2026, followed by a public consultation. The final SEAC Opinion, together with the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) Opinion, is expected to be submitted to the European Commission by December 2026.

    ECHA will also issue guidance detailing the sectors and applications evaluated in the SEAC Opinion to support stakeholder contributions.
  • Five Member States publish summary of updated PFAS restriction proposal – The national authorities of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden have released a 20 page summary of their updated PFAS restriction proposal for the EU/EEA. The summary is designed to help stakeholders navigate the broad and complex proposal and highlights changes made to the original submission to ECHA in January 2023.
  • EU politicians found to have PFAS in their blood – A summer testing campaign involving 24 European politicians revealed that all participants had detectable levels of PFAS. For about half of those tested, concentrations exceeded levels at which health impacts cannot be ruled out, with one individual showing levels above the action limit for potential long-term effects.

    The tests were coordinated by Denmark during its EU Council presidency and underscore the widespread exposure of PFAS across the population. While some participants showed declining levels, reflecting trends for restricted PFAS, NGOs stress the need for stronger regulatory action.

    Environmental groups are urging a broad phase-out without exemptions, emphasizing the public health risks associated with continued exposure.
  • Draft Guidance of the EU Commission on PPWR – The European Commission has recently drafted guidance (not yet publicly available) which attempts to clarify several provisions of the PPWR, including on the PFAS restriction, covering:
    • PFAS limit in food contact packaging – The EU Commission consider that empty packaging which does not meet the PFAS limits, may be legally sold (or simply transferred to a different entity free of charge) before the 12 August 2026 deadline and continue to be used thereafter to package products. This guidance will be welcomed by some in the industry that were concerned about having to destroy stock, but industry should be aware that the EU Commission is not the final arbiter on such interpretation issues, that rests with the European Court of Justice.
    • PFAS standards to analyze content in packaging: as there is no standard for analysing PFAS content in packaging, the EU Commission recommends that enforcement from 12 August 2026 should be based on robust analytical methods that exist. And that a stepwise approach should be taken to testing, such that the first step is checking whether the 50 ppm total fluorine limit has been reached or not.

France

  • Parliament considers new fiscal measures targeting PFAS – In the ongoing discussions on water management and environmental protection, French lawmakers are debating several fiscal tools specifically aimed at PFAS. Proposals include updates to the PFAS levy established by the law of 27 February 2025, as well as potential taxes on the marketing of products containing PFAS. Other initiatives under consideration focus on upstream emissions, including source-based levies and integration of PFAS into existing environmental taxation frameworks. These measures reflect growing national attention on dedicated mechanisms to manage PFAS contamination and complement forthcoming EU-level restrictions.
  • ANSES issues recommendations for PFAS monitoring – On 22 October 2025, France’s national agency for food, environmental, and occupational health and safety (ANSES), published guidance on national PFAS surveillance, based on nearly two million data points covering 142 substances. The agency proposes a three-tiered approach: permanent monitoring for the most concerning PFAS (including trifluoroacetic acid in drinking water), exploratory monitoring for substances with limited data, and localized monitoring for historical or site-specific contamination. ANSES also recommends integrating environmental and health data to support evidence-based risk management.
  • First nationwide air monitoring campaign detects PFAS – On 10 October 2025, Atmo Occitanie, the regional air quality monitoring network for the Occitanie region in southern France, published results from its air monitoring campaign, expanded for the first time to include endocrine disruptors and PFAS across ten sites, including Toulouse and Montpellier. Between late 2024 and 2025, 2 to 10 PFAS molecules (out of 50 analyzed) were detected at five sites. The campaign was funded following a ruling by the French Conseil d’État on air pollution, marking a significant step toward broader environmental surveillance of PFAS.
  • Draft decree on drinking water controls includes TFA and 6:2 FTSA – A draft decree submitted to France’s National Council for Standards Evaluation (Cnen) on 2 October 2025 proposes adding trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and 6:2 FTSA to the list of PFAS to be monitored by all regional health agencies (ARS). The move follows the 27 February 2025 law, which allows adding quantifiable PFAS based on local circumstances and social concern. Monitoring of TFA and 6:2 FTSA is planned from 2027, slightly later than the 20 PFAS currently listed, and is expected to cost around €3.37 million for water utilities. The inclusion of TFA aligns with recent EU agreements to monitor this substance in drinking water.

United Kingdom

  • The Environment Agency teases Environmental Assessment Levels (ELA) for PFAS – It was reported this month that the Environment Agency is working to develop ELA for certain PFAS, which will be of interest to operators of permitted facilities. ELA are benchmarks used to judge the acceptability of proposed emissions to air from industrial sites, and their relative contribution to the environment. The announcement was reportedly made at the Institute of Air Quality Management annual conference, although no publication by the regulator has been made at this time.
  • Research published on PFAS incineration and alternative remediation methods – This month, the waste industry has considered the report of the Environment Agency Chief Scientist Group identifying high temperature incineration (HIT) as the principal viable method for large scale PFAS destruction. The report considered the effectiveness, feasibility, and environmental suitability of current and emerging technologies for treating PFAS and found that HIT achieves “near-complete mineralisation and destruction efficiencies above 99.99% for PFAS in firefighting foams when operated at 1,100°C with a 2–3 second residence time, sufficient turbulence, and balanced stoichiometry.” It also considered the operating conditions required for effective PFAS destruction, the risks of producing ‘products of incomplete combustion’, and potential of alternative treatment methods.
  • £2 million national research project announced to tackle knowledge gaps on PFAS contamination in waterways – A group of universities will collaborate with the Environment Agency on a project applying broad-scope laboratory testing methods to investigate how PFAS structures determine their persistence, mobility, and bioaccumulation. The project will be known as UNSaFE (Understanding the Scale, Sources, Fate and Effects of PFAS pollution) and, according to Imperial College’s press release, will “apply innovative, scalable technologies ranging from 3D-printed technologies, to high-resolution mass spectrometry and AI-driven modelling tools to build a national capacity for PFAS risk assessment. Importantly, over 3000 people in the UK will be engaged through national-scale “Water Blitz” events, empowering citizens to contribute directly to monitoring efforts by bringing critical local knowledge to the project.”

Other

  • Industry groups advocate for PFAS-free green transition – Six companies providing PFAS-free solutions for green technologies have written to the European Commission, urging that the EU’s green transition can proceed without reliance on PFAS. The companies highlight that eliminating PFAS in these sectors is compatible with the EU’s competitiveness objectives and supports broader sustainability goals.