EU Bans PFHxA, Its Salts and Related Compounds under REACH, Affecting Food Contact Material

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 on 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 perfluoropentyl 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:

Range	Regulated scope	Effective date
in a concentration measured in homogeneous materials: ≥25 ppb for the sum of PFHxA and its salts, or ≥ 1000 ppb for the sumb of PFHxA-related substances	firefighting foams and firefighting foam concentrates for training and for testing, except functional testing of the firefighting systems provided that all releases are contained; firefighting foams and firefighting foam concentrates for public fire services, except where those services intervene at industrial fires at establishments covered by Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and they use the foams and the equipment for that purpose only.	2026.4.10
	textiles, leather, furs and hides in clothing and related accessories; foorwear for the general public; paper and cardboard used as food contact materials within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004; mixtures for the general public; cosmetic products as defined in Article 2(1), point (a), of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009	2026.10.10
	textiles, leather, furs and hides other than in clothing and related accessories, for general public	2027.10.10
	firefighting foams and firefighting foam concentrates for civil aviation (including in civilian airports)	2029.10.10

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.