Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — main concerns and regulatory developments in Europe from an environmental point of view

PFOA is persistent in the environment, ubiquitous present in surface waters, and subject to long-range transport. It accumulates in biota, especially in top predators. PFOA is increasingly analyzed in food items, and in drinking water. PFOA’s intrinsic properties such as its persistency (P), its potential for bioaccumulation (B) and its toxicity (T) suggest that PFOA is a promising candidate for being identified as a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) under REACH. Because of the dispersive occurrence of PFOA in the environment, the presence in imported products, and the use of PFCs, which can degrade to PFOA in various consumer products, a restriction under REACH seems to be the most effective regulatory measure to minimize human and environmental exposure to PFOA in the European Union.Due to its intrinsic properties, PFOA fulfills the REACH PBT-criteria. The next regulatory step will be the identification of PFOA and its ammonium salt (APFO) as SVHC according to REACH and the addition to the REACH Candidate List. As a second step, a restriction proposal will be prepared to include both substances and precursors into REACH Annex XVII.Per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) are emerging pollutants of the 21st century. These man-made chemicals have been produced since the 1950s. Due to their outstanding properties – they provide water, oil, and grease repellency and are very stable ？ certain PFCs have been used in a variety of consumer products. A number of studies are available reporting the occurrence of these chemicals in all environmental media as well as in humans [1-4]. In total, according to an OECD survey, the group of produced and used PFCs consists of more than 600 compounds [5]. They are characterized by a fully (per-) or partly (poly-) fluorinated carbon chain in connection with different functional groups. Two compounds from the PFC family are well known: Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOS has recently been i