Lawmakers approve sweeping ban on chemicals that can have deadly impact: 'One of the world's most ambitious laws'
These per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances do not break down in the environment and have been linked to fertility problems, developmental delays in children, and increased cancer risk. They have been found in human bodies, the environment, and, in one case, all rainwater samples tested.
Next year, products with PFAS cannot be manufactured, imported, or sold in the country, which is the second ban after Denmark's in 2020 to "progressively ban PFASs from various everyday products: food packaging, clothing, footwear and cosmetics," Le Monde reported. Maine did the same.
Nonstick cookware escaped the ban, and some protective clothing used by civil professionals is exempt. The newspaper noted that food packaging will be regulated by the European Union.
"In a relatively short space of time, two and a half years, thanks to the mobilization of members of parliament, [nongovernmental organizations], scientists and investigative journalists, a subject that was under the radar has made its way into the public debate, to the point where France now has one of the world's most ambitious laws on PFAS," said Nicolas Thierry, a member of parliament with The Ecologists and the bill's rapporteur, per Le Monde.
Additionally, industrial companies that pollute waterways will have to pay for expensive water treatment costs starting a year after the law takes effect. Large polluters such as Arkema, Solvay, and BASF will be the first subject to fines of €100 ($104) per 100 grams of PFAS. The money will go to water agencies to help them remove forever chemicals such as trifluoroacetic acid, which "everyone's drinking," according to one environmental consultant.
The companies will have five years to halt the discharge of PFAS into water.
"According to estimates by France's leading public water company, the decontamination bill could amount to 'billions of euros,'" Le Monde stated, with a forever chemicals expert pegging the figure at €12 billion ($12.45 billion).
The law also includes directives about publishing and updating PFAS monitoring stats and contamination maps.
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In January, nearly 100 European environmental and health organizations wrote a letter to the European Commission to demand the end of "the worst pollution crisis in human history." They said that the industry for decades has "knowingly allowed toxic chemicals to contaminate our bodies, our water, our food, and our air while concealing safety risks from the public and authorities."
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