Yesterday, the UK Government published its plan on PFAS substances, with the goal of restricting their use, monitoring their presence in the environment, and, where possible, removing them.
The plan acknowledges the challenges of restricting PFAS substances, particularly in sectors such as ours where PFAS is internationally used because of its specific technical and performance properties, and the international collaboration required to restrict these substances.
BIVDA will engage with the government agencies responsible for executing the plan.
Key to advocacy on this topic will be member data used to:
- Identify where and which PFAS substances are in use in their products (both intentionally and as contaminants from processes upstream in the supply chain).
- Assess the risks that PFAS substances are emitted during manufacture and during the life cycle of IVDs, including disposal at the end of life/consumption.
- Make progress towards identifying alternate substances that avoid regrettable substitution, including expected timeframes to implement substitution where feasible. And, where substitution is not feasible, assess the socioeconomic impact if the device has to be withdrawn from the market, e.g., which patient groups, pathologies, rates of prevalence, and wider risks to public health would occur.
