China Taiwan Designates 357 PFAS as Toxic Substances

The Taiwanese Ministry of Environment has released a draft amendment to the Categories and Management of Handling for Toxic Chemical Substances and opened the public comment period. The main focus of this amendment is persistent organic pollutants, which are dangerous to biological health because of their high bioaccumulation, long-distance migration, and non-degradability. The ministry intends to formally list 357 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), its salts, and related compounds, as toxic chemical substances in compliance with the Stockholm Convention of the United Nations.

The primary change consists of:

• Modifies control concentrations: Nonylphenol (NP) and nonylphenol polyethoxyl (NPEO) control concentrations were changed to 0.1% in compliance with EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) standards.
• Modifies the classification of toxicity: Since their endocrine-disrupting qualities were well defined, the toxicity classifications for NP and NPEO were changed to 1,3,4 and 1,4, respectively. The classifications for PFOS, its salts, and related compounds, as well as PFOA, its salts, and related compounds, were changed to 1, 2, and 4 in response to revisions in toxicological data.
• CAS numbers are updated: To help with drug identification, 12 additional CAS numbers for NP and 28 for NPEO were added in accordance with the EU REACH and the US Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
• Adds harmful chemicals: Tetraethylammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate, potassium perfluorooctane sulfonate, ammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate, diethanolammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate, and didecyldimethylammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate were among the five new chemicals that were listed as hazardous chemicals. Together with previously regulated compounds such lithium perfluorooctane sulfonate, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride, they are supervised. Along with the previously mentioned PFOA, 352 PFOA, its salts, and related compounds were also designated as hazardous chemicals.
• Prevents particular uses: It is forbidden to use NP and NPEO for the following reasons: 

1. Manufacturing of cleaning agents for industrial and public institutions
2. Processing of textiles or leather products
3. Metalworking
4. Manufacturing of pulp or paper

There are some exceptions, though, such as when they are not utilized or sold on the domestic market and can be entirely recycled, burned, or extracted from wastewater in regulated systems, procedures, and treatment equipment.

1. Modifies usage reasons: The newly classified PFOS, its salts, and similar compounds, NP, NPEO, and PFOA, its salts, and related compounds were all given new usage purposes.
2. releases a timetable: A timeline was released for the timely completion of related tasks pertaining to the handling of hazardous chemicals.

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