EurEau welcomes the news today that France has become the second country after Denmark to ban PFAS in certain consumer uses. This is a courageous step, but all uses must be banned to stabilise contamination levels of our water resources.

We also welcome the polluter-pays arrangements whereby companies would have to pay €100 for every 100 grams of PFAS released but this will only cover a negligible part of overall societal costs. The Forever Pollution Project estimates this is up to €18 billion annually for drinking water alone in Europe.

The ban will take effect from 01.01.26. and covers the manufacture, import, export and marketing of products containing PFAS, in clothing, footwear, cosmetics and ski wax but excludes cooking utensils from the law, despite there being alternatives available. The ban will be extended to all textile products from 2030, unless necessary for essential uses.