Forever Chemicals, Finite Timelines: Managing PFAS Reporting and Compliance Across Borders

This guide was published on 22nd April, 2026. Further regulatory developments may have occurred after publication. To keep up-to-date with the latest compliance news, sign up to our newsletter.

PFAS regulation is entering a more demanding phase across major markets.

Guide Overview

In Europe, the United States, Canada, and the UK, businesses are facing a mix of existing restrictions, new reporting requirements, proposed measures, and shifting policy direction. The challenge is no longer just awareness, it is practical readiness. Companies need to know where PFAS are present, understand how different markets define them, identify where obligations already apply, and prepare for the next round of PFAS reporting requirements and restrictions.

Based on our recent webinar in partnership with RINA, “PFAS Regulations: Are You Ready for What Comes Next?” this guide distils these issues together in one practical narrative. It examines where PFAS are commonly found, why definitions matter, what is already in force in Europe, what the next EU restriction may mean, how the United States is splitting between federal reporting and state action, how Canada is progressing through a use-by-use model, what the UK’s direction suggests, and what businesses should be doing now to reduce exposure and improve readiness.

This Guide Covers

• The PFAS Challenge
• PFAS Hidden in Plain Sight
• The Definition Problem
• Europe in Motion and the Next EU Wave
• America’s Split Screen
• Canada’s Phased Approach
• The UK’s Direction
• The Readiness Imperative
• Webinar Q&A: Real-world Questions From Your Compliance Peers Answered

Author

Cathy Phillips, CEnv CEng FIMECHE PISEP MIOSH MSc BEng (Hons), Principal Regulatory Consultant, RINA

Cathy Phillips has been helping companies figure out where they have PFAS in their products, and what to do about it, since 2016. She has helped manage REACH in businesses since 2008. She is a technical expert on global environmental compliance, product and chemical safety, covering legislation such as EU & UK REACH, RoHS and its equivalents, WEEE, GHS / CLP, POPs, F-Gas, Proposition 65 TSCA, and global PFAS regulations. She also works across product safety on Eco-design, Critical Raw Materials and Rare Earth Elements (CRM-REE) and conflict minerals.

Cathy has worked with companies from many diverse sectors, including maritime, defence, aerospace, energy, rail, nuclear, food technology, medical equipment and consumer goods. She has expertise in managing compliance across large multinationals through to small specialist companies.