PFAS statement
Our commitment to you
PPE is working tirelessly to reduce its environmental footprint and minimize any risk to human health associated with PFAS use.
We are focused on ensuring our customers can continue to enjoy uninterrupted access to high performance sealing solutions for the most critical applications, whilst contributing towards making the whole fluoropolymers production cycle more environmentally sustainable.

What is PFAS?
PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They are a family of around 10,000 chemical species, all containing carbon-fluorine bonds.
The problem with PFAS
In 2021, in Europe, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden initiated a procedure to prepare a joint restriction proposal under the REACH Regulation. This restriction would ban the entire group of PFAS substances, including the manufacture of PFAS, most uses and placement on the EU market.
The proposal was published in February 2023 and is being reviewed by the European Chemicals Agency (“ECHA”):: https://echa.europa.eu/it/registry-of-restriction-intentions/-/dislist/details/0b0236e18663449b.
The objective for regulators is to limit the risks to the environment and human health posed by the manufacture and use of a wide range of PFAS, even though it is widely accepted that not all PFAS chemicals have the same human health and environmental risks. In particular fluoropolymers, such as FKM, FEPM and FFKM, can be categorized as PFAS based on their molecular structure. However, their environmental and toxicological profiles are distinctly different to the majority of other PFAS. Most fluoropolymers meet the OECD “Polymer of Low Concern” criteria (non-toxic, not bioavailable, non-water soluble and non-mobile molecules) and are deemed to have no significant environmental and human health impacts.
What is Precision Polymer Engineering doing about it?
Some of the FKM materials that Precision Polymer Engineering has been supplying to its customer base for several years are based on special types of FKM polymers, which to date have been manufactured by different fluoropolymer suppliers with the use of fluorosurfactants – a type of non-polymeric PFAS used as a process aid.
These fluorosurfactants have been under regulatory scrutiny across the globe over the past years, due to their presumed toxic effects on humans, in combination with their potential to bioaccumulate, to be persistent and mobile in the environment.
To address the above, in September 2023 the Fluoropolymers Product Group (FPG) announced the launch of a Manufacturing Programme for European Manufacturing sites:
The programme is comprised of three pillars:
- A voluntary commitment to reduce non-polymeric PFAS emissions from fluoropolymer manufacturing
- A platform to promote the adoption of commercially available state of the art technologies to minimise non-polymeric PFAS emissions in fluoropolymer manufacturing
- A commitment to inform downstream users of fluoropolymers on their safe handling and use
This programme includes a concrete commitment to minimize emissions of fluorosurfactants to the environment from fluoropolymer manufacturing by the different FPG member companies.
In the frame of this programme, some fluoropolymer suppliers recently announced the launch of alternative manufacturing processes that do not require the use of fluorosurfactants any more.
This marks a breakthrough in FKM offering.
We at PPE support enhanced responsible fluoropolymer manufacturing practices, and have been working in collaboration with the same suppliers to validate this new technology with the ultimate goal of implementing it in our material offering.
This will determine an evolution of our FKM portfolio and a transition period over the coming years. Different timelines apply for each material, since suppliers release schedules, development status and inventory levels all influence the transition timing.
Any questions?
If you’d like to find out more about PFAS, and the steps we’re taking to safeguard your customers, we’d be happy to speak to you.
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