Speciality Chemicals Magazine MAY / JUN 2026 | Page 30

AGROCHEMICALS

rather than a prediction of the most likely regulatory outcome.

Additional uncertainty arises from the potential review of the EU pesticide regulatory framework. Discussions around reform have intensified over the past year as part of a wider strategy to reduce administrative burdens across the EU in multiple sectors. Should the framework be amended, it remains difficult to anticipate how such changes would interact with ongoing mandates relating to TFA toxicology and the environmental fate and behaviour of TFA.

It is also important to note that, in January 2023, the national authorities of Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway submitted a proposal for a universal restriction on PFAS. ECHA is currently assessing this proposal and is expected to publish its opinion by the end of 2026, which will inform the EC’ s stance.

In this context, an EU-commissioned report published in January 2026, The Cost of PFAS Pollution for our Society, estimated that if current levels of PFAS pollution persist without regulatory intervention, the associated societal costs could reach approximately € 440 billion by 2050.4

At national level, other jurisdictions are escalating concerns for TFA formation from PFAS pesticides. Notably, in November 2025 Sweden, one of the proponents of the general restriction on PFAS to the EU, announced plans to introduce stricter testing requirements for PPPs containing PFAS that can degrade into TFA.

The measures require product holders to report how much TFA may form and leach into groundwater under Swedish conditions, with these requirements applying to new product applications, ongoing trials, and reassessments of existing authorisations. The Swedish Chemicals Agency will also review 38 authorised products containing

References: 1: PAN Europe, Position Paper TFA, 28 July 2025. https:// www. pan-europe. info / sites / pan-europe. info / files / public / resources / briefings / Position % 20Paper % 20TFA % 20- % 2028072025. pdf 2: Danish Environmental Agency, December 2024( in Danish). https:// www2. mst. dk / Udgiv /

Sector

publikationer / 2024 / 12 / 978-87-7038-688-3. pdf 3: European Chemicals Agency, PFAS Update, 27 August 2025. https:// echa. europa. eu / documents / 10162 / 111425157 / echa _ update _ pfas _ en. pdf / 6775e241-204e-af0a-a2d0- 4c16ba2c138d? t = 1756287349062

Substance

RAC & SEAC proposed

restrictions on PFASs

TriFluPest

EFSA mandate for tox. ref values for TFA

Figure 3- Pesticide active substances identified as potential PFAS & TFA precursors

Note: Substances highlighted in red are no longer approved in the EU. A- Includes fluazifop-butyl, fluazifop-p-butyl & fluazifop-p; b- Includes haloxyfop-ethoxyethyl & haloxyfop-p; c-Includes tau-fluvalinate.

active substances, including fluazinam, fluopyram, diflufenican, mefentrifluconazole, tau-fluvalinate and flonicamid.

Overall, while the precise scope and timing of regulatory action on TFA precursor pesticides remain uncertain,

4: EU Publications Office, January 2026. https:// op. europa. eu / en / publication-detail /- / publication / 2bcea765-fbf8-11f0-8da5- 01aa75ed71a1 / language-en the growing number of initiatives focused on PFAS and specifically on TFA-forming substances, suggests that further regulatory measures are a realistic prospect. ●

J j

Gordon Amour

ANALYST

AGBIOINVESTOR gordon @ agbioinvestor. com www. agbioinvestor. com

Comm approv flubend approv

30 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981