The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) encourages its relevant stakeholders to submit feedback by January 7, 2021 on a document referencing the recently adopted EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability program (CSS), pertaining to the phasing out of chemical perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS). The program calls for revising the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals (REACH), and possibly restricting or eliminating several of the substances of very high concern (SVHC) according to the principle of ‘essential use.’ The program is relevant to chemicals manufacturers, in addition to machinery and electronic companies that may utilize PFAS or any of the SVHC’s in their products.
Adopted by the European Commission in October 2020, CSS is the first step towards a zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment announced in the European Green Deal. According to the EU, the strategy is set to "boost innovation for safe and sustainable chemicals, and increase protection of human health and the environment against hazardous chemicals."
According to the CSS, the Commission will “define criteria for essential uses to ensure that the most harmful chemicals are only allowed if their use is necessary for health, safety or is critical for the functioning of society and if there are no alternatives that are acceptable from the standpoint of environment and health. These criteria will guide the application of essential uses in all relevant EU legislation for both generic and specific risk assessments.”
Access the document for more detailed information and to comment via Sharepoint.