ECHA receives 5.6k comments on PFAS restriction proposal

Helsinki – The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has received over 5,600 comments from more than 4,400 organisations, companies and individuals on its proposal to restrict the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the European Economic Area.

The comments will be checked by the agency’s committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC), said ECHA in a statement 26 Sept, a day after the submission deadline.

Comments "providing relevant evidence-based information" will be considered in the opinion making process, the agency added.

The five countries of Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, who prepared the initial proposal, will also review the consultation input and may update their initial proposal based on it.

While many comments submitted during the consultation are published on the ECHA website, some information indicated as confidential by the consultee has not been made public.

ECHA said it also processing and will publish comments that received very close to the deadline.

According to the agency, RAC and SEAC are currently evaluating the proposed restriction and considering the relevant information received through the consultation.

The committees will develop their “independent, scientific opinions” over a series of meetings, where draft opinions are discussed.

ECHA said it would deliver the final opinions to the European Commission “in the shortest possible timeframe, while ensuring proper scrutiny by the scientific committees.”

The agency did not provide a timeline for the decisions but said it would communicate them to the public once the committees’ opinions are adopted.