PFAS – A global environmental challenge

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Do you know what artificial heart valves, hip prostheses, food packaging, certain cosmetics, non-stick cookware, water- and oil-proof apparel, stain resistant furniture and carpets, fuel cells, electric vehicle batteries, computer chips, and firefighting foam have in common?

In many cases these contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS in short. PFAS are a group of human-made chemicals used in various industrial and commercial applications. They are known for their water- and grease-resistant properties, incombustibility, and stability, making them valuable in many products like the ones above.

However, the wide use of PFAS also causes problems. PFAS are highly persistent in the environment, earning them the nickname "forever chemicals.” This persistence can lead to bioaccumulation in organisms over time. In addition, some PFAS have been linked to adverse health effects, including developmental issues, liver damage, immune system suppression, and an increased risk of certain cancers. An estimate shows that the burden of PFAS on European healthcare systems amounts to between €52 and €84 billion each year.

Due to their stability and mobility, PFAS have become globally distributed pollutants, contaminating water sources and ecosystems worldwide. In Germany contaminations with PFAS have been detected in more than 1500 locations. As a result, some farmers can no longer sell their crops and must destroy them. In 2023 a survey carried out by European media identified 23,000 contaminated sites in Europe, including 2,300 at levels dangerous to human health. Hotspots are near industrial sites, but also near airports and military installations due to the excessive use of firefighting foams in training exercises in the past.

So, it is not a surprise that authorities have started to ban PFAS. This is not an easy task: PFAS encompass a large group of thousands of chemicals with varying properties, making it challenging to regulate them uniformly. Therefore only a few substances have been regulated so far, for example perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the European Union. The EU is considering a broader regulation of PFAS, and the European Chemicals Agency discusses a proposal from 5 European countries with the aim to ban PFAS in consumer products by 2025 and a complete ban by 2030.

In the United States, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defined actions to tackle the PFAS crisis. These include for example research methods, additions of PFAS to the toxics release inventory, reporting rules, setting drinking water standards, and many more. Some US states have released their own laws that regulate and restrict the use of PFAS.

International collaboration is crucial in addressing the global nature of PFAS pollution. Global organizations like the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants are assessing the need for global restrictions on PFAS and have included some PFAS in the list of Persistent Organic Pollutants.

And even non-governmental organizations have started banning PFAS. As an example, the International Biathlon Union IBU has implemented a full ban of ski preparation products containing fluor at all its event series from the 2023/2024 season onwards including the Biathlon World cup. Companies such as 3M have announced to exit the production of PFAS by 2025.

Addressing historical contamination from PFAS poses challenges, as these chemicals persist in the environment for extended periods. Efforts are ongoing to develop effective remediation strategies and to identify and promote alternatives to PFAS in various applications without compromising performance. Furthermore, ongoing research is focused on understanding the health and environmental impacts of different PFAS compounds.

So overall PFAS pose significant challenges due to their persistence, global distribution, and potential health risks. Efforts to regulate, manage, and find alternatives to these substances are critical to mitigate their impact on human health and the environment. International collaboration is essential to address PFAS pollution comprehensively. Substantial restrictions on the use of PFAS can be expected for the near future.

But how can companies prepare for a phase out of PFAS? Software solutions like SAP S/4HANA for product compliance can help. The latest cloud version of this software includes a list of 16,000 substances meeting different PFAS definitions, based on the PFAS List of Lists from the US Environmental Protection Agency EPA.

With this list, the software can identify products that contain PFAS and can show you how much revenue is endangered in case certain a certain substance will be banned in the future. For older SAP releases, SAP partners provide regulatory content covering PFAS. For more information, see https://www.sap.com/products/scm/product-compliance.html.