2023-09-29 06:54:00
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The EU is considering banning so-called perpetual chemicals PFAS – also because some of them could be harmful to health. But the industry in Germany is up in arms.
Helsinki – They are found in everyday objects such as clothing, cosmetics or packaging and are used in technical applications and processes such as seals, fittings and coatings: PFAS, per- and polyfluorinated alkyl compounds, which are often referred to as forever chemicals. The approximately 10,000 substances are incredibly useful for industry – although some substances are suspected of having harmful effects on health and the environment.
Forever chemicals PFAS – useful and controversial
The EU is now considering banning these chemicals. Because: They are practically indestructible and last – well, more or less forever. If PFAS then escape from factories and products into the environment, they cannot be broken down there. The consequences: Food and drinking water are contaminated with the eternal chemicals. According to studies by the European Food Authority EFSA, animal foods are particularly affected. This means that people also absorb the substances.
Again Deutschlandfunk reported, some compounds have been shown to have negative effects on ecosystems and human health even in small quantities. They are also suspected of causing cancer. However, there is no systematic record of which of the thousands of substances have which impact on health and the environment.
EU examines chemical ban – thousands of comments
As a precautionary measure, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden proposed in January to almost completely ban the production, use and marketing of PFAS in the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA includes the entire EU as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. As a result, the EU chemicals agency ECHA launched public consultations in March, allowing anyone with information about PFAS to have their say. This consultation period came to an end on Monday evening after six months.
The PFAS that the five countries want to ban include an estimated 10,000 individual substances. (Symbolic image) © Arne Immanuel Bänsch/dpa
During this period, the responsible EU authority received thousands of comments. Over 5,600 comments were submitted by more than 4,400 organisations, companies and individuals, most of them from Sweden and Germany, ECHA announced on Tuesday in Helsinki.
According to ECHA, the next step is to review these comments by two of the agency’s scientific committees. The five countries behind the original proposal – including the Federal Republic – will also be able to take a look at it and revise their proposal on this basis. ECHA then wants to transmit the committees’ final statements to the EU Commission as quickly as possible. The Commission will then ultimately decide on a possible ban on PFAS together with the EU member states.
Industry associations are up in arms against the planned ban
However, industry associations are up in arms against the planned ban and are vehemently warning of the consequences of a comprehensive ban: It would be an enormous threat to high-tech industries such as medical or semiconductor technology, explained the mechanical engineering association VDMA and the German industry association for optics, photonics, analysis and Medical technology Spectaris.
Jörg Mayer, the managing director of Spectaris, then sees the existence of hundreds of companies threatened. Just like the VDMA. “We have companies that are only allowed to bring ten to 20 percent of their portfolio onto the market after a PFAS ban, also because there are practically no alternatives to the substances used,” says Sarah Brückner, head of the environment and sustainability department at the Maschinenbauverband, opposite the Welt. But that is no longer worth it. “These companies tell me that they will then have to close.”
No wind turbine, no electric car, no energy storage, no semiconductors – without PFAS chemicals, key technologies on the path to climate neutrality in particular could not be produced, according to a recent statement from the automotive industry (VDA), mechanical engineering (VDMA) and electrical engineering – and digital industry (ZVEI). The industry associations are demanding that substances for which there is currently no replacement should continue to be available to the industry. This should also apply to substances that pose no risk to people or the environment. PFAS with risk should be continuously replaced, as is already the case.
Habeck for differentiated handling of PFAS
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) also advocates a differentiated approach to the chemical group. “Better regulation where it is necessary for consumer protection, but not over-regulation of the economy where it inhibits growth and technology development. In concrete terms, this means that where these chemicals are not used safely for people and the environment and can easily be replaced by other substances, we should promote their rapid phase-out. This is especially true where they are used close to consumers,” Habeck told the German Press Agency in Berlin.
The State Secretary in the Federal Environment Ministry, Christiane Rohleder (Greens), recalled the risks of chemicals. “PFAS are extremely persistent and accumulate in people, animals and the environment,” she explained. “According to EU-wide studies of young people between 2016 and 2022, across all studies, 15 percent of participants exceeded the blood values considered tolerable, and in individual studies even over 20 percent.”
It is therefore right to look for an exit from the use of PFAS where alternatives exist. The restrictions planned at EU level were not aimed at total bans. “Rather, there will be a differentiated approach so that people and the environment are effectively protected and at the same time the path remains clear for other social transformation processes.” In the medium term, she is relying on the innovative strength of the industry to develop “new and sustainable solutions without PFAS”.
With material from dpa
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