French deputies approved on Thursday at first reading a bill aimed at restricting the manufacture and sale of products containing PFAS, eternal pollutants, however excluding kitchen utensils from the scope of the law, after a strong mobilization this week of manufacturers.
Massively present in everyday life (Teflon pans, food packaging, textiles, automobiles, etc.), these per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances called PFAS (pronounced “pifasse”) owe their nickname to their very long life cycle and, for some, to their harmful effect on health.
Unanimously adopted in committee last week, the bill presented by ecologist Nicolas Thierry was the subject of lively debates between the left and the presidential camp, and, more subdued, between the government and the majority .
It was ultimately approved unanimously, with 186 votes in favor and zero against.
The main article of the text provides for a ban from January 1, 2026 on the manufacture, import and sale of any cosmetic product, wax product (for skis) or textile clothing product containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, with the exception of protective clothing for security and civil security professionals.
All textiles will be affected by the ban from January 1, 2030.
The application of the ban to kitchen utensils, initially provided for in the text, was removed by the deputies in session, several elected representatives from the right, the far right and the majority showing themselves sensitive to the arguments of the manufacturers concerning the risks for employment.
The majority had proposed to postpone the ban on these products from 2026 to 2030. Postponement considered too important by environmentalists, who did not want to go beyond 2027. The majority responded by purely and simply deleting the paragraph of the discord, causing a strong reaction on the left.
“Once again”, the majority allied to the right and the extreme right has “given in to the lobbying of (the manufacturer) Seb, to the detriment of the health of the French. It’s a shame,” reacted the environmentalist deputies.
The French household appliance manufacturer SEB, which had sounded the alarm this week about the threat that such a law would pose to some 3,000 jobs in two of its factories which notably manufacture Tefal stoves, said it was “reassured that the science and reason have prevailed today in the hemicycle”, through the voice of a spokesperson.
“Non-dangerous” PFAS?
The government wanted to go beyond this exclusion of culinary products, and supported amendments from the right and some in its camp aimed at removing the main article of the law, but it was not followed by its majority .
Like the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, on Wednesday, the Minister of Industry Roland Lescure defended before the deputies the need to act at the European level to prohibit the use of certain PFAS, within the framework of the European regulation on Reach chemicals.
“Restrictions have already been put in place [en Europe] and bans will be advocated, pronounced quickly,” argued Mr. Lescure, ruling out, however, the idea of a general ban.
In particular, polytetrafluoroethene (PTFE) which is used for stoves “is very likely one of the PFAS which will be judged as non-dangerous” by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), he argued.
He recalled France’s support for the approach of five European countries which have submitted a file to this agency with a view to a project for a broad ban on PFAS, and mentioned an action plan against these eternal pollutants presented Thursday by the government.
But for rapporteur Nicolas Thierry, the proposed restriction at European level is “necessary” but “not sufficient”, given the “massive” nature of exposure to PFAS and the “serious health risk”.
Among the other measures of its text adopted in the hemicycle, the application of the polluter pays principle with a tax targeting industrialists who reject it – despite the opposition of the government. Or the obligation to control the presence of PFAS in drinking water throughout the country.