EU – Addition of PFHxS, its salts and PFHxS related compounds to EU POPs Regulation

Vol. 1367 | 10 Aug 2023

On 8 Aug 2023, the European Commission published Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1608 to approve the regulation of perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds under Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 (POPs Regulation). This regulation was approved as proposed and will enter into force on 28 Aug 2023.

This regulation amends Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 (POPs Regulation) as regards the listing of perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PHFxS-related compounds. This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Here are the highlights:

Substance	Requirements
Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts	≤ 0.025 mg/kg in substances, mixtures or articles
PFHxS-related compounds	≤ 1 mg/kg in substances, mixtures or articles
PFHxS, its salts and PFHxS-related compounds	≤ 0.1 mg/kg in firefighting foam mixtures

Note:

"Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds" means the following:

1. perfluorohexane sulfonic acid, including any of its branched isomers;
2. its salts;
3. PFHxS-related compounds which, for the purposes of the Convention, are any substance that contains the chemical moiety C6F13S- as one of its structural elements and that degrades to PFHxS.

A link to the Regulation is below:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32023R1608

If you have further questions, please contact Dr. Kathy Leung (Kathy.Leung@intertek.com) or Dr. Ben Cheng (Ben.PS.Cheng@intertek.com)