What is pfas and why is the engineering plastics industry paying attention to it?

PFAS is a collective term for a large class of chemicals, with tens of thousands currently known. Their most notable feature is that they are “tough”: the chemical bonds formed between carbon and fluorine atoms are extremely stable and hardly break down in nature. That is why they have earned the nickname “forever chemicals.” As a result, PFAS can accumulate in the environment and in the human body. Studies have found that long-term exposure to certain PFAS may increase the risk of cancer and affect the immune and endocrine systems.

Due to its waterproof, oil-resistant, high-temperature resistant, and corrosion-resistant properties, PFAS is widely used in everyday products such as non-stick pan coatings, waterproof jackets, food packaging paper, and firefighting foam. However, as its hazards have gradually been confirmed, countries around the world have begun to take action against PFAS, with the EU, the United States, and China implementing increasingly stringent regulatory limitations.

The EU has proposed comprehensive restrictions on more than 10,000 PFAS substances, with plans to essentially phase them out by 2030. The United States has set PFAS limits in drinking water at a level close to zero tolerance. China has also included PFAS in the List of Key Controlled New Pollutants. If your products are to be exported smoothly, you may very likely be required to prove that they do not contain prohibited PFAS during customs clearance. Without a test report, the goods may be detained, returned, or even destroyed.

Your customers—for example, companies making automotive components, medical consumables, or food packaging—are themselves supplying even larger brand owners. These end brands, such as Tesla, Siemens, or McDonald’s packaging suppliers, impose extremely strict environmental compliance requirements and trace them down through every tier of the supply chain. When your customers ask you for reports, they are really passing that pressure on to you, and you in turn pass it upstream to your raw material suppliers. Whoever cannot provide the required reports gets removed from the supply chain.

Currently, the commonly used testing methods in the industry include the EU EN 17681-1 standard (which requires total organic fluorine to be no more than 50 ppm), as well as ISO 23702 and other methods for plastics. Formal third-party testing institutions are all able to issue reports.

More importantly, the entire engineering plastics industry is accelerating its “PFAS-free” transition. Giants such as BASF, Asahi Kasei, and SABIC have already launched fluorine-free low-friction materials and medical-grade modified resins. It can be said that whoever completes the fluorine-free transformation first will gain the upper hand in the next round of competition.