On October 28, 2025, the EU published the revised EU POPs Regulation (EU) 2025/1482 in the Official Journal, formally revising the control limits for PBDEs (tetrabromodiphenyl ether, pentabromodiphenyl ether, hexabromodiphenyl ether, heptabromodiphenyl ether, and decabromodiphenyl ether). This revision mainly lowers the control limits for PBDEs, and the revised regulation will come into effect on November 17, 2025.
The main revisions are as follows:
What are PBDEs?
PBDEs are a class of widely used brominated flame retardants. Due to their excellent flame-retardant properties, they were once widely used in furniture, electronic products, textiles, foam materials, and other products. However, these substances are environmentally persistent, bioaccumulative, and highly toxic. They can be amplified through the food chain, damaging the human endocrine and reproductive development systems, and may even induce cancer. They were included in the Stockholm Convention's prohibited list as early as 2009.
Corporate Compliance Recommendations:
1. Conduct immediate self-inspection: Review product raw materials, formulas, and production processes, focusing on components containing flame retardants, and confirm the individual and total content of the five PBDEs substances.
2. Optimize supply chain management: Obtain PBDEs compliance declarations and test reports from suppliers, clarify raw material limit requirements, and avoid using non-compliant recycled materials.
3. Conduct timely testing: Select EU-accredited laboratories to complete product testing according to the new regulatory limits, and retain test reports as evidence of compliance.
4. Establish a dynamic tracking mechanism: Pay attention to subsequent implementation details of EU regulations, especially enforcement requirements for special scenarios such as food contact materials and recycled materials.
Warm tips
The EU's control over POPs substances is continuously being upgraded, and the tightening of PBDEs limits will significantly raise the market entry threshold. ZRLK recommends that relevant companies closely monitor regulatory developments, formulate corporate control measures, and reduce economic losses caused by product violations of POPs regulations. Our company has a wide range of testing capabilities and a professional and efficient service team. We can help companies evaluate the regulated chemical substances in their products to ensure that your products meet the relevant national and international standards. If you have any needs, please feel free to contact us. Our engineers will serve you as soon as possible!
