Strong Assistance | ECHA Update REACH Regulation PFAS Restriction Proposal Progress
On August 20, 2025, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) released an update on the REACH regulation regarding the proposal to restrict Per - and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The proposal was initially drafted jointly by Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden and submitted to ECHA on January 13, 2023. After the public consultation period ended, ECHA organized multiple meetings based on the feedback received to discuss and evaluate different industries. This update greatly promotes the implementation process of PFAS restriction measures.
Currently, the five file submitters of the proposal have completed the evaluation of over 5600 scientific and technological opinions received during the 2023 public consultation period from more than 4400 organizations, enterprises, and individuals. Based on the collected information, they updated the initial restriction proposal and created an updated report called the Background Document for reference by the ECHA Committee. According to the committee's assessment, this document may be further updated in the future.
In this update report, five authorities have identified and evaluated eight application areas that were not explicitly listed in the initial proposal. including:
-Printing
-Sealing application
-Mechanical applications
-Other medical fields, such as packaging materials and excipients for drugs
-Military applications
-Explosive materials
-Technical textiles
-More extensive industrial applications, such as solvents and catalysts
Update of restriction scheme
In addition to the comprehensive ban or time limited exemptions for certain applications proposed in the initial proposal, they also considered other restriction options, including allowing PFAS to continue production, market or use under controllable risks. These alternative solutions have been evaluated by the file submitter of the proposal for the following applications:
-PFAS manufacturing
-Transportation
-Electronics and Semiconductors
-Energy
-Sealing application
-Mechanical applications
-Technical textiles
The Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Committee for Socio Economic Analysis (SEAC) of ECHA will continue to evaluate the proposed restrictive measures mentioned above. The European Commission will make a decision on whether to implement the proposed restrictive measures after consultation with EU member states.
