EU regulators mull restrictions on 10,000 ‘forever chemicals’

Industry group warns proposal could restrict uses that are “critical to society”

EU regulators are mulling legislative restrictions on thousands of chemicals that they warn could otherwise cause increasing harm to health and the environment, but which industry says are crucial for the production of many products.

The European Chemicals Agency on 7 February released details of the proposed restriction of about 10,000 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are sometimes described as ‘forever chemicals’ because they are, in the regulator’s words, “very persistent in the environment”.