As part of the continuous development work at Eurofins PFAS competence centre, we are currently in the process of updating method references for PFAS in both clean (e.g. drinking, surface, and groundwater) and unclean (e.g. leachate, process water, and wastewater) matrices. Until now we have cited DIN 38407-42 and UNEP Chemicals Branch 2015 (mod). The DIN standard will now be replaced by the newer EN 17892. This EN standard is recommended in EU Commission Notice C/2024/4910 for the determination of “Sum of PFAS” (PFAS20) according to the Drinking Water Directive ((EU) 2020/2184). The UNEP reference, which describes the integration and quantification of branched PFOS, will be retained.
The main principles of the DIN and EN standards are very similar, and the EN method is accredited for the same water matrices as before. Regarding individual compounds, the scope of accredited PFAS has been extended to include C6O4, PFODA, FOSAA, DPOSA (6:2 FTNO), HFPO-DA (GenX; unclean), and HFPO-TA. This means that we are now also fully accredited for PFAS25 under the new EQS Directive (EU) 2026/805. The reporting limits (LOQ) for PFBA (1; unclean), DPOSA (1), 6:2 FTAB (1), PFTrDA (0.3; clean), and PFTeDA (0.3; clean) have been lowered (new LOQs in brackets; ng/l), while the accredited LOQ for C6O4 in unclean waters is set at 3 ng/l. Because of quality considerations, accreditation for 12:2 FTOH will be discontinued. Measurement uncertainty (MU) will be slightly reduced to 30% (k=2, including bias), from the current 31%.
Due to quality and performance issues, this update will also result in the complete withdrawal of the compounds PFHxPA (perfluorohexylphosphonic acid; LW1WD; LW29Q; LW1UP) and TFMB (2,2′-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzidine; LW2SU).
The change in reference methods will not affect other codes, packages, sample volumes, TAT, or pricing.
The change will affect all samples registered from Monday, 3 August 2026.