A year ago, France embarked on an ambitious goal. It is to create the world's widest range of bans against the use of harmful “eternal chemicals” in everyday products.
On Friday, the effort culminated in the PFA's national ban, where environmental and health experts welcomed major advances.
After the home appliance maker campaigned, TEFAL (including rough gatherings where employees were equipped with pots and pans) was excluded from the ban on cooking utensils that include non-stick pans and other PFA.
“The victory over the PFA in the Parliament! Nicholas Thierry, a French Green Party politician who proposed a ban last year, wrote to Bruski. However, the exemption granted to cookware was his “biggest regret.”
PFA, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of chemicals used in nonstick cooking utensils, water leaf-like clothing, cosmetics, and fire foam items. Because it cannot be easily broken down in the environment, it is commonly known as an “eternal chemical,” so PFA can damage the liver and immune system, and is also associated with birth defects, delayed development, and increased risk of certain cancers.
The new French law, which comes into effect next year, prohibits the production, trade and marketing of cosmetics, footwear, certain textiles and ski waxes, including PFA. Starting in 2030, we will cover all textiles containing chemicals, except for protective clothing worn by firefighters and other professionals.
The law exempts breads and other cooking utensils that use PFAS non-stick coatings after the French manufacturer of TEFAL non-stick cooking utensils launched an open campaign that restricts the scope of the law. Tefal and its advocates say that the ban on cooking utensils threatens employment, limits consumer choices and undermines French industrial competitiveness.
“Our nonstick coatings are recognized as safe,” the public poster campaign declared. In April, the company organized a rally near the French Parliament. There, employees pounded the pot and lifted the sign that read, “Don't touch my pot!” He then recited, “Ecology, yes, our work is no.”
“We're fighting because we're within our rights,” Thierry de La Tour D'Artaise, chairman of Groupe Seb, which owns the Tefal brand, said at the rally. The proposed ban was “bad for consumers,” he said.
Martin Scheringer, professor of environmental chemistry at Eth Zurich, a Swiss public research university, said it is true that health risks from the nonstick cooking utensils themselves are not the biggest concern. However, he said the production of nonstick materials could lead to “substantial emissions of PFA into the environment.”
Environmental groups also say there are safer alternatives. And the discovery of PFA hotspots near European chemical plants and military bases pointed to the need to curb chemicals in the source, according to Hélène Duguy, an attorney at the environmental law firm Clientearth. “I'm sure I'll have to pay that much to clean it up in the future,” she said.
Despite the narrowing of scope, the new law makes France the second largest country in the world after Denmark, banning PFA on a variety of consumer products. Denmark has taken a more fragmented approach, starting with PFA in food packaging.
The European Union is considering a broader ban on PFAS chemicals that cover both industrial and consumer use, including cooking utensils. The process is in its early stages.
