At the beginning of May 2019, the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention adopted the final global ban on perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
The Stockholm Convention regulates the handling of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). PFOS and PFOA were already subject to severe restrictions, but various exemptions applied. These exemptions have now been restricted again and the final phase-out has been decided for 2025.
In our industry, only the exemption for the use of PFOS in hard chrome plating will apply until then - but with the restriction that there must be no discharge into the environment.
The ZVO had previously lobbied the German government (BMU) for an alternative that had already been introduced, 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acid (6:2FTS). It is important to commit to this far less critical substance in order to be able to promote safe use with investment security.
Further information on the ban can be found on the homepage of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB). Information from the ZVO on the subject of poly-perfluorinated compounds and REACh.
