France has become the second country after Denmark to ban per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in certain products. The bill approved by the French parliament blocks the production, import or sale of cosmetics, clothing textiles (with some exceptions) and ski wax containing PFAS from January 2026. However, environmental campaigners argue that national bans are no substitute for EU action.
Following intense industry lobbying, the bill does not include kitchenware such as non-stick saucepans, despite campaigners claiming alternatives are available. Textiles used for protective clothing for security and civil protection workers are exempt until 2030.
Under the legislation, which still needs to go through a constitutional review before President Macron signs it into law, companies will have to pay €100 (£83) for every 100g of PFAS released into the environment and French authorities will regularly test drinking water for PFAS. The original draft had proposed a payment threshold of 1kg for PFAS emissions. It had also proposed a 1% tax on the profits generated by large industries releasing PFAS emissions, but this clause was stricken.
PFAS are a family of over 10,000 man-made chemicals that have been in use since the late 1940s in consumer products and industrial processes and equipment, from dental floss and toilet paper to gaskets in sulfuric acid production plants. They’ve been nicknamed ‘forever chemicals’ because they persist in the environment for centuries accumulating in ecosystems, animals and humans. They’ve also been linked to serious health issues such as liver damage, reduced immune responses, low birth weights and several kinds of cancer. A 2023 report by ChemSec, a non-profit organisation that advocates for safer alternatives to toxic chemicals, found that 12 chemical companies are responsible for most of the world’s PFAS production: AGC, Arkema, Chemours, Daikin, 3M, Solvay, Dongyue, Archroma, Merck, Bayer, BASF and Honeywell.
‘This law has undeniable shortcomings,’ says Hélène Duguy, a legal expert at the non-governmental organisation ClientEarth. ‘For instance, it only bans the use of a limited number of consumer items and doesn’t even touch industrial uses – when we know that PFAS are widely used in various sectors such as automotive and electronics. Nonetheless, France is one of the first countries to act on what is both a public health and an environmental crisis and it should be applauded.’
The French parliament’s vote was welcomed by the European Federation of National Associations of Water Services (Eureau), which represents drinking and wastewater service providers. ‘This is a courageous step, but all uses must be banned to stabilise contamination levels of our water resources,’ it said in a statement.
Eureau also welcomed the ‘polluter pays’ arrangement in the bill but warned that the funds raised will cover only a fraction of the costs of PFAS to society. The Forever Pollution Project, an international collaboration of journalists and experts, estimates the cost of cleaning up drinking water alone to be €18 billion in Europe.
While welcoming the French ban, Sandra Bell, policy adviser at the charity CHEM Trust, which works to find alternatives to harmful chemicals, says now France needs to get firmly behind an EU-wide plan to restrict PFAS. Authorities in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have proposed a ban on over 10,000 PFAS under the EU’s Reach chemicals regulation. The scientific bodies of the European Chemicals Agency (Echa) are currently considering the proposal. Echa’s opinion is expected sometime in 2026.
Denmark has already banned PFAS in paper and cardboard food packaging, and approved a ban on the sale and import of consumer clothing, footwear and waterproofing products containing PFAS from July 2026. It also allocated around €54 million to prevent, contain and clean up PFAS contamination. There are active campaigns for bans in other countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium.
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