Sudden interest in PFOS (Directive Decoder)

Sudden interest in PFOS

I have received one or two queries regarding PFOS recently.

Most Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) was originally produced in the USA by 3M. It was a key ingredient in Scotchgard, a fabric protector made by 3M, and numerous stain repellents. When 3M discovered how toxic it was they stopped making it with the result that it is now only used, via other sources, in applications where it is difficult to replace.

It was used in adhesives, paper and fabrics including coatings mainly for textiles, carpets and leather. Apparently 48 tons per year was used in the UK at one time. It was used as it provided "soil, water and oil" resistance.

Any product that provides resistance to water, dirt, oil, etc could contain PFOS - water resistant coatings, adhesives that work under water or on wet surfaces might be possibilities. There is an exemption for photolithography and so it is possibly present in photoresists.

PFOS was banned under the Marketing & Use Directive on 27/6/2008.

Directive Decoder

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Posted by Gary on February 26, 2008 4:46 PM | Permalink|

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on February 26, 2008 4:46 PM.

The previous post in this blog was New Batteries Directive in 2008.

The next post in this blog is Batteries - new substance restrictions.

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About the author

Gary Nevison is Farnell's spokesperson and customer interface on legislation that affects the electronics industry, such as the RoHS and WEEE Directives. As part of this, Gary has spoken extensively at RoHS seminars throughout Europe, North America and Australia. He has recently turned his attention to the developments, and impact, of China RoHS.
With over 30 years service at Farnell, he has widespread experience in the electronic components industry, Gary is an active figure in the market place, sitting on the AFDEC (Association of Franchised Distributors of Electronic Components) Council and acting as the elected chairperson for its dedicated RoHS development team.
During 2005, Gary was also chairman of the European organisation DMASS (Distributors and Manufacturers Association of Semiconductor Specialists) and today sits on the board of Electronics Yorkshire, helping local businesses.

Directive Decoder

Expert analysis of european legislation in the electronics market from Gary Nevison of Farnell InOne