PFAS regulatory landscape remains a dizzying world of ambiguity

Indianapolis — A lack of uniform regulations by continent, country — even by state — has made adherence to PFAS regulations a difficult proposition for rubber and plastics companies.

"It's the states that have me concerned," said William Heslip, chemical regulatory stewardship compliance manager with Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies. "I would characterize the PFAS landscape as ambiguous at best."

Heslip spoke Aug. 8 as part of the EH&S Summit in Indianapolis, an annual gathering organized by the Association for Rubber Product Manufacturers and the Manufacturers Association for Plastic Processors.

"PFAS has great properties for a bunch of different applications," Heslip said. "It has great water and oil resistance, and it has extremely high temperature resistance due to its carbon-fluorine bond, which gives these chemicals very high stability."

So why do PFAS need to be regulated?

"When these chemicals go into a landfill, they don't stop being those chemicals," Heslip said. "The bond doesn't stop being this bond. And it means PFAS can be in the environment for 5,000 to 6,000 years.

"You can eat it, drink it and breathe it."

The carbon-fluorine bond is the strongest covalent bond in organic chemistry, Heslip said.

In fact, PFAS chemicals maintain a polymer half-life in the environment of more than 1,000 years. Such is the bane of these man-made chemicals, earning them the ignominious moniker, "forever chemicals."

"And remember, half-life is the time it takes for half of the material to degrade," Heslip said. "So it will take five to six half-life cycles before all of the material degrades, assuming no new material is added to the environment."

From all corners of the world, there are anywhere between 10,000 and 12,000 chemicals on the global, aggregate list of PFAS for regulation or elimination. PFAS have been found everywhere from Antarctic ice to the Mariana Trench.

"With that many PFAS being around, it is impossible to test them all," Heslip said.

While PFAS chemicals are ubiquitous, found in human tissue assays (PFAS lasts between four and eight years in the human body), in the air, tap water and in the soil, their uses are critical to a range of industries.

PFAS chemicals are used in home products to impress consumers — think non-stick surfaces for pans to keep eggs and cheese from sticking.

They also are used in fire retardants, and to stain-proof and waterproof clothing. They are common, and in many cases essential, to electronics, drugs, home and personal cleaning products, and grease-resistant paper for things like microwave popcorn bags.

They were introduced, accidentally, in the 1940s by Dupont in the form of Teflon, which was then manufactured by 3M.

"FKM is very good at what it does," Heslip said. "That's why companies use it."

And 3M, as well as hundreds of other companies, have seen court rulings go against them for PFAS production, mainly on the personal injury side.

3M has announced it will leave the PFAS space, including all fluoropolymers, fluorinated fluids and PFAS-based additive products, by the end of 2025.

Lawsuits surrounding PFAS have already cost 3M between $10 billion and $12.5 billion, and the company remains a defendant in thousands of public and personal injury lawsuits for drinking water issues.

Beyond that, at least 30 state attorneys general have announced PFAS-related lawsuits against chemical companies at this point, Heslip said.

Just recently, a PFAS-related lawsuit in New Jersey came down against Solvay, ordering the chemical company to pay $393 million in remediation efforts.

According to Heslip, the U.S. EPA has divided PFAS into polymeric PFAS (which includes FFKM, FKM and many others) and non-polymeric PFAS (refrigerants and some oils) for regulation.

"One of the common misconceptions I hear is that 'maybe our FKM rubber or PTFE plastic contains PFAS.' By definition, they are PFAS. They do not contain PFAS, they are PFAS," Heslip said.

As it stands today, mandatory reporting for companies that either have produced or imported PFAS-containing products is set to begin Nov. 12 and last through May 12, 2025.

"If you have manufactured or imported PFAS between 2011 and 2022, you have to report the trade name, what the PFAS was used for, whether it was mixed or manufactured, and whether there is a byproduct, the health effects and the number of individuals exposed," Heslip said. "The reporting is going to be very in-depth and involved.

"And this is going back to 2011. ... Try to think of the number of workers exposed to PFAS in 2011. It is going to be nearly impossible, and not only because such reporting was not required at the time."

However, a respite, or at least a delay in this reporting period, is likely.

"The head of the EPA has said that due to budget cuts, the reporting form may not be available in November," Heslip said.

EPA has not issued an official statement that it will push the reporting deadline back.

"But I would start looking at this now," Heslip said.

Conversely, many states are taking regulatory matters into their own hands, further muddying the regulatory landscape.

"Many U.S. states think that the EPA is going too slow, so they are taking action now," Heslip said.

Maine, Minnesota and Washington already have passed sweeping PFAS regulations.

"In 2032, you cannot sell a PFAS-containing product in Minnesota or Maine," Heslip said.

While some states are considering labeling regulations, other states like Rhode Island have proposed criminal liability for selling PFAS products.

"Still, other states are less broad," Heslip said. "But the regulations do run the gamut across the U.S."

In the European Union, PFAS regulations are set and enforced by the European Chemicals Agency.

In March, ECHA clarified future steps for regulating, and ultimately banning, PFAS.

Heslip said the agency's two main scientific committees, Risk Assessment and Socio-Economic Analysis, will evaluate the proposed restrictions "together with the comments from the consultation."

The committees then will analyze the comments in batches, by industry.

"At the same time, the five national authorities who prepared the proposal are updating their initial report to address the consultation comments," Heslip said. "This updated report will be assessed by the committee and will serve as the foundation for their final opinion."

Industries to be analyzed this month include textiles; upholstery; leather apparel; carpets; food contact materials and packaging; and petroleum and mining.

Many European rubber companies believe the sheer amount of comments received on the proposed regulations — more than 5,500, from more than 4,500 companies — will delay any final opinion until at least 2027.

And the administrative burden will continue for companies in Canada, Heslip said, as reporting on certain PFAS chemical usage will begin Jan. 29, 2025.

Uniquely, Canada has separated FKMs from typical polymeric PFAS, saying they need to be looked at with a different lens.

"Which is not common, but welcome," Heslip said.