I was at a friend’s house the other day. She was cooking lunch (a lovely Greek-inspired halloumi salad). As she took out her Teflon pan to panfry the cheese, I let out a big sigh. My friend looked at me. Normally, I wouldn’t react this way and I felt ashamed. Here I am, being this annoying person on her high horse, telling her friends what they’re doing wrong. I don’t want to be that person — and I’m usually not.
But seeing that Teflon pan made me think of work. It made me think of the upcoming PFAS restriction. It made me think of how we’re STILL discussing consumer products — and it made me mad. Not at my friend, but at the fact that we’re still discussing this non-issue (there are so many PFAS-free alternatives out there that it shouldn’t even be a topic of discussion).
Forget about Teflon pans and other consumer products!
On Monday, I’m speaking at a rather high-level PFAS meeting in the EU Commission. One thing I’m going to make clear to them is that we shouldn’t waste time discussing consumer products.
It’s basically a done deal. There are PFAS-free alternatives for pretty much all of them. If not, they are being developed as we speak. Our own ChemSec Marketplace — where we list safer alternatives — has over 200 PFAS-free solutions for everything from waterproofing and fire protection to plastics and batteries.
“We shouldn’t waste time discussing consumer products”
The same goes for fluorinated gases — also called F-gases — used in heat pumps and air-conditioning. There is an incredibly mature natural-refrigerants industry ready to step in. An added bonus here is that most of the leading companies are also European (you know, if protecting EU industry is a concern).
What we need to do is get to the bottom of the real problem. PFAS must be phased out. We need to turn off the tap. There is no two ways around it.
Focusing the discussion on postponing the PFAS restriction, splitting it, delaying it, creating doubt, saying we need to gather more evidence is not helping us move forward — it’s only holding us back. Just like continuing to discuss consumer products (by the way, did you know that these products account for only 18% of PFAS uses?).
PFAS in the energy sector is what needs to be discussed
If we’re serious about wanting to make a change, serious about wanting to fix the problem, then no sector is more important than the energy sector. The coming 30 years, the energy sector is expected to use 42% of all PFAS. That’s a lot. All of us (hopefully) can agree that the so-called green energy transition needs to happen, that we cannot continue to rely on fossil fuels. But we mustn’t let it happen at the expense of sacrificing our health and polluting our environment.
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An energy transition that is both climate-friendly and PFAS-free is absolutely possible. We just need to give the new solutions that are in development the reassurance that the old solutions will be abandoned, that the companies will get their return on investment.
The PFAS ban is a massive opportunity
There is no future in holding on to the old. That is what got us here in the first place. We must embrace the future, embrace change — not fight it.
The ongoing PFAS crisis is one of the biggest and most urgent environmental problems in the world right now. But it may also be the one with the clearest path forward, the one with the most straightforward solution.
The EU Commission needs to move ahead with a comprehensive PFAS ban. One that covers ALL the most important uses, including energy, F-gases and industrial processes — not only consumer products. Because frankly, I’m sick and tired of talking about ski wax and Teflon pans.
