A year ago, France went on an ambitious goal: to create the widest ban on using harmful “forever chemicals” in everyday products.
On Friday, this effort culminated in a national ban on PFAS, which was considered by experts in environmental and health protection, with a great step forward, with one significant exception.
After the campaign of the manufacturer of the home appliances, the Tefal-Utfal set of employees who manage the pots and pans of employees without any pancakes and other pfas containers are excluded from the prohibition.
“Victory against PFA National Assembly! wrote on Bluesky. Still, the exemption approved borrowed was his “greatest regret”, Mr. Thierry Later said Le MondeFrench daily.
PFA-i, or per- and polyFluoroalkyl substances are a class of chemicals used in objects such as storage of dishes, clothing for repellent water, cosmetics and fire foam. Known as “forever chemicals”, because they do not fall easily in the environment, PFA can damage the liver and the immune system, and are also associated with innate flaws, delays in development and increased risk of certain cancers.
The French new law, which comes into force next year, forbids the production, trade and marketing cosmetics containing Pfas, shoes, a certain textile and ski wax. Since 2030, the ban will cover all the textiles containing chemicals, in addition to the protective clothing worn by firefighters and other professionals.
The law is to exclude pans and other dishes used by pfas without a coating squeeze, however, after the French dishwasher Tefal Necrick has launched a public campaign to limit the scope of the law. Tefal and his supporters say that the ban on using in a vessel would threaten jobs, limit the choice for consumers and hurt French industrial competitiveness.
“Our Nevids Prevlations are recognized as safe,” Public poster campaign declared. In April, the company organized Rally Near the French parliament, where employees hit the pots, kept the inscriptions on which it said “Don’t touch my pan!” And he sang “Ecology yes, our jobs don’t.”
“We fight because we are in our rights,” said Thierry de la Tour D’Artaise, President of Groupe SEB, who owns Mark Tefal, at a gathering. The proposed ban, he said, is “bad for a consumer.”
Martin Scheringer, a professor of environmental chemistry at Eth Zurich, a public university in Switzerland, said it was true that the health risks of cooking accessories were not the biggest concern. However, he said, the production of non -connection materials can cause “significant pfa environment emissions,” with harmful health effects.
The environmental groups also say there are safer alternatives. And the discovery of PFAS near chemical factories and military bases across Europe indicated the need to withdraw a chemical in the source, said Hélène Duguy, a lawyer at Clienteart for environmental protection. “We’ll have to pay so much to clean it in the future,” she said.
Despite the narrowed extent, the new law makes France another world country after Denmark forbade PFA and a series of consumer products. Denmark took a more effective approach, starting with PFA food packaging.
The European Union considers a wider ban on chemicals of Pfas that would cover both industrial and consumer use, including dishes, a ban that would basically overpower the French law. This procedure is at an early stage.
