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Could the world go PFAS-free? Proposal to ban ‘forever chemicals’ fuels debate

A European agency is considering sweeping restrictions on fluorinated chemicals used in jet engines, electric cars, refrigeration systems, semiconductors and many consumer products.
  1. XiaoZhi Lim

    1. XiaoZhi Lim is a freelance writer in Singapore.

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Illustration of Earth floating in water with fluorinated chemical structures flowing around it

Illustration by Adrià Voltà

This February, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki published a proposal that could lead to the world’s largest-ever clampdown on chemicals production. The plan, put forward by environmental agencies in five countries — Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden — would heavily restrict the manufacture of more than 12,000 substances, collectively known as forever chemicals.

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Nature 620, 24-27 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02444-5

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 01 August 2023: The graphic ‘Fluorinated world’ incorrectly stated that TFA is a greenhouse gas. It isn’t. The graphic has now been updated.

  • Clarification 11 September 2023: An earlier version of this News feature implied that all of the fluorosurfactants used to create fluoropolymers are toxic. In fact, not all have been tested for toxicity. It also stated that the only option to clean up TFA will be reverse osmosis, but alternative methods could be viable in the future.

  • Correction 07 November 2023: An earlier version of this article incorrectly implied that all fluoropolymers are created using fluorosurfactants.

References

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