By
AFP
Translated by
Nicola Mira
Revealed
February 20, 2025
On Thursday, France’s Parliament is about to definitively approve an environmental invoice proscribing the manufacture and sale of merchandise containing perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS), a “ground-breaking” new piece of laws for the European Union. PFAS, also referred to as ‘forever chemicals’, are ubiquitous in on a regular basis life, and their influence on well being is a priority for most people and the authorities.
An illustration calling for a PFAS ban held on Might 26, 2024 in Oullins, France – JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP/Archives
The invoice, which was authorised in a primary spherical on the Nationwide Meeting (the French parliament), after which redrafted by the Senate in Might, needs to be authorised as handed within the Senate, subsequently coming into pressure.
The invoice is high of the record within the so-called ‘ecologist slot’ — the day devoted to the parliamentary exercise concerning social and environmental laws.
Agnès Pannier-Runacher, France’s Minister for ecological transition, launched the controversy by stating she helps the invoice, whereas calling for a nuanced dialogue, urging Parliament to “keep science firmly in mind” and “avoid generalised hostility to PFAS.”
“There are thousands of PFAS. Some are well-known, others less so. Some are dangerous, others are considered low-impact,” she mentioned.
PFAS are nearly indestructible and are current in scores of objects and merchandise. They accumulate over time within the air, soil, water, meals and, in the end, within the human physique, particularly within the blood and kidney and liver tissues.
Though data of the well being dangers related to the varied forms of PFAS is inadequate or in some instances absent, additionally in accordance with the well being authorities, a number of perpetually chemical compounds are mentioned to trigger opposed results on the human metabolism.
The invoice’s key article proposes to ban from January 1 2026 the manufacturing, import and sale of cosmetics, wax product (for skis) and garments containing PFAS, excluding some industrial textiles or textiles which are “needed for essential use.”
The invoice additionally features a provision for taxing producers whose actions end in PFAS discharge, following a ‘polluter pays’ precept.
Though the invoice’s preliminary scope has been diminished – notably by excluding kitchen utensils from the proposed ban – rapporteur Nicolas Thierry (MP for Les Ecologistes occasion) claimed on the session that the invoice is “a first response” that may make France “one of the best-equipped countries for protecting its population from the risks linked to forever chemicals.”
MP Cyrille Isaac-Sibille (of the MoDem occasion), creator of a report on the topic a yr in the past, described the invoice as a “foundation stone” within the battle in opposition to PFAS, one that may broadcast “a message to Europe saying that France is ready and that swift thinking is needed.”
“Markers”
