EU Bans PFHxA, Its Salts and Related Compounds under REACH

EU adds PFHxA, its salts and related compounds to the Restriction List under REACH with specific exemptions.

On September 20, 2024, European Commission announced to add Undecafluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), its salts and PFHxA-related substances to the Restriction List under REACH (Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006).  This amendment was published in the Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/2462 in the Official Journal of the European Union. It will come into force on October 10, 2024. 

PFHxA-related substances and the ammonium salt of PFHxA are widely used in many sectors, with large quantities used in paper and cardboard for use as food contact materials, in textiles and in firefighting foams. The continued use of PFHxA salts and PFHxA-related substances in particular in wide dispersive uses will lead to an increasing environmental stock and further environmental and human exposure.

Regulated PFHxA

As per the amendment, PFHxA, its salts and related compounds are defined as: 

• Having a linear or branched perfluorophenyl group with the formula C5F11- directly attached to another carbon atom as one of the structural elements OR
• Having a linear or branched perfluorohexyl group with the formula C6F13-.

The following substances are excluded from this designation:

• C6F14
• C6F13-C(=O)OH, C6F13-C(=O)O-X′ or C6F13-CF2-X′ (where X′ = any group, including salts)
• Any substance having a perfluoroalkyl group C6F13- directly attached to an oxygen atom at one of the non-terminal carbon atoms.

Restriction

PFHxA, its salts and related compounds are prohibited from being placed on the market, or used in a concentration in the following products: 

The following products are exempted from the restriction: 

• Personal protective equipment intended to protect users against risks within the scope of risk category III, points (a), (c) to (f), (h), and (l) of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2016/425;
• Devices within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2017/745;
• Devices within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2017/746;
• Textiles used as construction textiles.

Except for firefighting foams, all articles that were available on the market before the effective date will be considered exempt from this restriction and may continue to be sold.