South Korea’s Ministry of Environment adds new persistent organic pollutant PFHxS (147 substances), banning handling thereof

On June 9, 2023, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of South Korea announced that the latest revised version of the Regulations on Types of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Specific Exemptions (MOE Notice 2023-129, hereinafter) would take effect from June 11, 2023. The Ministry explained that since "perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) and its salts and PFHxS-related substances" were newly added to Annex A (Elimination) of the Stockholm Convention at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the same Convention held in June 2022.