To prevent perfluorinated carboxylic acids (C9-C14 PFCAs), their salts and related substances from being used as substitutes for PFOA, their salts and related substances in the future, the European Union has banned them with Regulation (EU) 2021/1297. This will come into force on August 25, 2021. Annex XVII of Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) was thus amended. This means that as of February 23, 2023, PFCAs may no longer be placed on the market. However, longer transition periods have been granted for some applications. Specifically, the ban refers to perfluorinated carboxylic acids with 9 to 14 carbon atoms in the chain (C9-C14 PFCAs), their salts and C9-C14 PFCA-related substances.

Usually, the above substances occur as by-products in the production of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated substances with a carbon chain of less than nine carbon atoms, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, C8-PFCA) and perfluorohexanoic acid (C6-PFCA). However, they could also replace these and thus be increasingly released into the environment. This will now be prevented with the EU-wide ban.

The Canadian authorities have also proposed listing PFCAs as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention.