2022

NILU (Norwegian Institute for Air Research) and Örebro University have conducted this study on PFASs in chemical products and textiles by contract of the Swedish Chemicals Agency as part of the Agency’s preparatory work on a broad PFAS restriction under the REACH regulation.

The occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment is a global environmental problem. The Swedish Chemicals Agency commissioned this report to provide a broad and easy-to-understand guide to introduce the PFAS issue to non-experts. The report is aimed at, for example, officials and environmental officers with some scientific background who will work with PFAS related issues but who are not yet familiar with the subject.

The use of foam liquid in extinguishing fires, especially PFAS-based extinguishing foam liquids, has led to the pollution of the environment, including drinking water, by PFAS. However, it is not always easy to know what different foam liquids contain. Substances other than PFAS in PFAS-free foam liquids can also pollute the environment.

Patent data contains information about the use of chemicals in products before they are introduced to the market. To detect and proactively regulate the use of hazardous substances at this early stage is of great value in the enforcement of chemicals. As today's knowledge acquisition is largely manual and includes large amounts of data that are available in machine-readable form, there is a potential to improve and make the monitoring of patent data more efficient using data-driven technologies.