Use of PFOA firefighting foams banned from 4th July 2025

From 4^th July 2025 the use of firefighting foams containing PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) is banned.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds were commonly used in fire-fighting foams for both fixed and mobile equipment such as:

• foam fire extinguishers (for class B fires); and
• fixed fire suppression systems.

Firefighting foams containing PFOA may still be used up until this date, provided that they are:

• not used for training purposes;
• only used if releases can be contained; and
• not used for testing (unless releases are contained).

If you have any extinguishing equipment using foams containing PFOA, you must ensure they are:

• only used as permitted before 4^th July 2025; and
• are not used from 4^th July 2025.

Organisations must dispose of PFOA foam equipment, ensuring that:

• contractors hired to remove the waste are registered as waste carriers;
• the waste containing PFOA is sent to authorised disposal or recovery sites;
• the transfer / consignment note indicates the presence of PFOA; and
• the firefighting foam containing PFOA is destroyed and not discharged to sewer, sea, drainage or sewage systems.

You can check whether any of your equipment contains PFOA foam by referring to the manufacturer’s information and safety data sheet.

The ban does not apply where PFOAs are present as unintentional trace contaminants in quantities equal or below:

• 0.25 mg/kg – for PFOA or any of its salts; or
• 1 mg/kg – for any individual PFOA-related compound or a combination of PFOA-related compounds.

Background and future restrictions on persistent organic pollutants

PFOA is known as a “long-chain PFAS compound, and is sometimes referred to as a ‘C8 PFAS compound’, due to its chemical structure, a carbon backbone consisting of 8 carbons.  PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), are a group of synthetic chemicals, known for their resistance to heat, water, and more. These chemicals are recognised for their persistence in the environment, as well as potential health effects, and are often referred to as ‘forever chemicals’.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds were added to Annex I of Assimilated Regulation 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants in April 2020, which banned their manufacture, sale and use in Great Britain, with the same restrictions applied across the European Union through EU law. An exemption allowing the use of existing stocks of PFOA firefighting foams until 4^th July 2025 was included in the update.

The use of alternative PFAS substances could also be banned in Great Britain in the coming years. The HSE and Defra are currently consulting industry for a UK REACH restriction on PFAS in firefighting foams. A public consultation is currently in plan for 2026. If successful, the ban will likely be implemented gradually, over several years.