PFAS have helped solve some of the toughest performance problems in lubricant manufacturing. Now, they’re also creating new questions around safety, documentation, and regulatory risk. Questions? Contact us.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large class of fluorinated chemicals known for performance in demanding applications. They can resist heat, oil, water, chemical attack, and surface adhesion.
Those properties help explain why PFAS chemistries have been used in everything from aerospace components and semiconductor manufacturing to non-stick coatings and grease-resistant packaging.
But the same chemistry that makes PFAS useful also makes them difficult to manage.
Found in many consumer, commercial, and industrial products, PFAS have been linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals in some cases. Because there are thousands of PFAS chemicals, assessing risk across the full class remains a major challenge.
For lubricant manufacturers, PFAS are not “good” or “bad” ingredients. Some PFAS-related materials have delivered real value in extreme applications. At the same time, broad use of PFAS in low-value or high-volume applications has created environmental concerns that regulators are now moving to address.
Suzanne Kingsbury, Director of Quality
What Are PFAS?
PFAS are manufactured chemicals built around strong carbon-fluorine bonds. That structure helps give them their unusual performance characteristics, including resistance to heat, oil, water, and chemical breakdown.
In lubricant manufacturing, PFAS may show up in several ways:
- Part of a base fluid
- Grease
- Thickener
- Solid lubricant
- Coating
- Additive package
- Related article or component used in the manufacturing process
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), for example, is a well-known fluoropolymer that has been used as a solid lubricant because of its low friction and non-stick behavior. PFAS can be used both as lubricating agents themselves and as additives in other lubricant products.
Because PFAS are not one single chemical, and they include many different substances, regulators don’t always treat every chemistry, use case, or exposure pathway in the same way.
Still, the broader trend is clear: customers, regulators, and supply-chain partners are asking more questions about where PFAS are present and whether they are truly needed.
Why PFAS Have Been Used in Lubricants
PFAS became useful in certain lubricant applications because they can do things many conventional chemistries can’t.
In the right setting, they may support:
- Low friction
- Low adhesion
- Chemical inertness
- Thermal stability
- Performance in high-temperature, high-vacuum, or chemically aggressive environments
That’s why PFAS-related materials have appeared in critical industrial sectors across transportation, defense, energy, electronics, oil and gas, iron and steel, chemical production, and other industrial sectors. PFAS can provide combinations of properties that enable several technical functions at the same time.
In some cases, PTFE and related fluorinated materials can act as solid lubricants. A solid lubricant can reduce friction and wear by placing a low-shear-strength material between moving surfaces. NASA uses them as thin films or powders to reduce friction and wear during relative movement.
That helps explain why fluorinated materials have been attractive in demanding applications such as aerospace, vacuum systems, dry-film lubrication, high-temperature greases, seals, and specialty coatings.
But uses have included a host of consumer products as well. The lesson for today’s lubricant manufacturers is that fluorinated chemistry has a long history in lubrication, and that history is now being revisited through the lens of safety, exposure, disposal, and regulatory compliance.
Slick 50: A Cautionary PFAS Tale
Quaker State’s Slick 50, an older engine oil additive associated with PTFE, is one example of how PTFE-based claims entered the automotive additive market. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) challenged certain Slick 50 advertising claims in 1996, including claims that the product coated engine parts with a layer of PTFE and that this was beneficial. The debate around a product like this today would not be only about efficacy, but also whether its usage constitutes unnecessary PFAS exposure to the environment.
How PFAS Have Spread Beyond Critical Uses
PFAS scrutiny has grown partly because these chemistries were used far beyond highly engineered applications. In some cases, PFAS were used because they solved a demanding technical problem. In others, they were used because they made a product cheaper, cleaner, easier to process, or more convenient.
Grease-resistant food packaging is one of the clearest examples. PFAS coatings helped paper resist oil and moisture, which made them useful for fast-food wrappers, takeout containers, microwave popcorn bags, and similar packaging. But those applications also created large volumes of PFAS-containing waste.
In February 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that grease-proofing substances containing PFAS were no longer being sold by manufacturers for food-contact use in the U.S. market. The FDA said this eliminated the major source of dietary exposure to PFAS from authorized food-contact uses.
Europe is also moving in this direction. Starting in August 2026, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation bans food-contact packaging that contains PFAS above certain concentration limits.
This is where the “critical use” question matters.
A PFAS-containing material used in a high-performance aerospace lubricant is different from an ultrathin PFAS coating on a burger wrapper. But widespread use in everyday applications has made regulators much less willing to accept broad PFAS use without a strong performance justification.
Safety Concerns Behind PFAS Regulation
The core concern with PFAS is persistence. Many PFAS break down very slowly, which is why they are often called “forever chemicals.” Some can move through water, soil, air, waste streams, and food chains.
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) says current scientific research suggests that exposure to certain PFAS may lead to adverse health outcomes, though research continues into how different PFAS, exposure levels, and exposure durations affect human health.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) also notes that the risk of health effects depends on exposure factors such as dose, frequency, route, and duration, as well as individual factors such as age and health status.
Not every PFAS-containing lubricant creates the same exposure profile as a food-contact coating, firefighting foam, or contaminated drinking water source. But regulators and customers are increasingly looking at the full lifecycle of PFAS-containing products, including manufacturing, worker exposure, emissions, waste handling, end use, and disposal.
For formulators, the question is becoming more practical: Can we explain why this chemistry is present, what function it serves, how it is controlled, and whether an alternative exists?
PFAS Regulations Lubricant Manufacturers Should Watch
PFAS regulation is moving on multiple fronts. Lubricant manufacturers should be especially attentive to U.S. reporting requirements, European Union restrictions, state-level rules, and customer-driven documentation requirements.
In the U.S.
The EPA finalized a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a)(7) PFAS reporting rule that applies to entities that manufactured or imported covered PFAS, including certain PFAS-containing articles, since January 1, 2011.
The rule requires entities that manufactured or imported PFAS or PFAS-containing articles during this period to report this information to the EPA. The deadline to start reporting was April 13, 2026, but it’s been delayed until 60 days after the upcoming revision is finalized.
Lubricant manufacturers should review whether they manufactured, imported, or incorporated covered PFAS in products or articles during the reporting period. They should also review additives, greases, solid lubricants, imported materials, packaging, and components that may not be obvious at first glance.
In the EU
In the European Union, the proposed PFAS restriction under Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)* is also moving forward. The European Commission describes PFAS pollution as a priority issue, and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) process has continued through committee review and public consultation.
An April 2026 update from the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association (ILMA) noted that two ECHA scientific committees had weighed in on the proposed restriction, with the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) issuing its final opinion in March 2026. RAC recommended an EU-wide restriction on the manufacture, use, and sale of PFAS.
EU and U.S.-based lubricant manufacturers alike should pay attention. European rules can influence global suppliers, multinational customers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and documentation expectations across the supply chain.
*Renkert Oil is a REACH-compliant supplier offering PFAS-free products. Look for this symbol when dealing with any primary or secondary petrochemical or specialty oil supplier:
What This Means for Lubricant Manufacturing
PFAS scrutiny does not automatically mean every fluorinated material disappears from lubricant manufacturing overnight. But it does mean formulators, purchasing teams, quality teams, and compliance teams need a clearer process for evaluating PFAS-related risk.
For lubricant manufacturers, the most important steps are practical:
- Know Where PFAS May Enter the Product: PFAS may appear in base fluids, additives, thickeners, solid lubricants, coatings, processing aids, imported articles, packaging, or plant materials.
- Separate Critical Use from Convenience: Some applications may require fluorinated chemistry to meet performance demands. Others may be candidates for reformulation.
- Document Intended Use: The same chemistry can carry different risks depending on the exposure pathway, end use, waste handling, and customer requirements.
- Ask Better Supplier Questions: Safety data sheets are a starting point, not the full answer. Customers may also need regulatory statements, composition information where available, non-intentionally added substance statements, and change-control documentation.
- Evaluate Alternatives Carefully: A PFAS-free substitute still needs to meet viscosity, stability, oxidation resistance, lubricity, volatility, compatibility, and customer performance requirements.
- Plan for Customer Questions: Even if a product remains compliant, customers may still request PFAS declarations, country-specific documentation, or support for their own sustainability and regulatory reviews.
The goal is to know what’s in the formulation, why it’s there, and whether the documentation supports the decision.
Supplier Questions to Ask Before PFAS Becomes a Problem
The best time to ask PFAS questions is before a customer audit, regulatory deadline, or product qualification issue forces the conversation. Lubricant manufacturers can reduce risk by building these questions into sourcing, formulation review, and supplier qualification.
A few questions are worth asking now:
- Does this ingredient intentionally contain PFAS, PTFE, fluoropolymers, or fluorinated additives?
- Could PFAS be present through processing aids, residuals, coatings, packaging, or contamination?
- What documentation can you provide to support PFAS status?
- Has the product changed because of PFAS restrictions or customer requirements?
- Are PFAS-free or lower-risk alternatives available for this application?
- What performance tradeoffs should we expect if we reformulate?
- Can you support reviews for U.S., European Union, state-level, or customer-specific requirements?
- How do you manage supplier changes, formulation changes, and lot-level documentation?
These questions are especially important when a lubricant product serves a regulated market, a global customer, or an application where material changes could affect performance, approvals, or long-term product reliability.
How Renkert Oil Helps Lubricant Manufacturers Stay Formulation-Ready
PFAS regulation is one more reminder that lubricant manufacturing depends on more than performance alone. Formulators also need dependable sourcing, consistent product quality, clear documentation, and suppliers who understand how oil selection affects the bigger picture.
At Renkert Oil, we help lubricant manufacturers source specialty oils that support reliable, high-quality formulations. We help customers evaluate the petroleum-based and specialty oil side of a formulation, compare product options, and think through performance needs.
We also understand that compliance conversations are becoming more complex. While we don’t replace your legal or regulatory advisors, we can support supplier documentation conversations, product selection reviews, and sourcing decisions that help you respond with more confidence when customers ask what’s in your formulation and why.
Whether you’re reviewing an existing product line, qualifying a new oil, or preparing for more customer questions around compliance, our team can help you evaluate options and keep your formulations moving in the right direction.