There is no greater mistake than to try to leap an abyss in small jumps, remarked British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. He had in mind the Liberals’ reluctance to force young men into the army during World War I.

But Lloyd George could equally have been commenting on the decision by the French parliament 10 days ago to ban the infamous PFAS “forever chemicals” from a limited range of consumer goods. 

France is not alone. Similar legislation already exists in Denmark, while in the US, more than a dozen states have recently introduced PFAS restrictions covering consumer goods such as personal care products, textiles and food packaging. 

The French decision to ban these chemicals was taken amid great fanfare among environmentalists. But France risks setting a bad precedent for the EU as a whole, thereby plunging the continent into an abyss of continuing pollution. 

A partial, sector-specific ban may turn out to be worse than no ban at all

Les problèmes français

On the face of it, banning these toxic and highly persistent chemicals from everyday items seems to only be a good thing, a necessary first step towards more extensive restrictions. Indeed, the French vote reflects the high level of public concern over PFAS, shared by other European nations where PFAS scandals have become front-page news. 

But for this to be the first step towards a real and lasting reduction in these chemicals, a far bolder measure is essential. 

First, the French ban is extremely limited, covering only cosmetics, shoes, textiles and ski wax. Pressure from Tefal meant that even something as simple as frying pans – where substitution of non-PFAS alternatives is both technically simple and economically efficient – is excluded from the law. 

Second, banning PFAS from consumer products does not protect the public, which is exposed via multiple routes. It won’t stop people drinking PFAS with their water, eating them with their food and breathing them in from the air. Most French people are exposed to these substances through their drinking water; in most cases, the levels exceed the safety thresholds.

It’s a drop in the ocean

Third, nobody has stopped to ask how much of the PFAS crisis can be traced to consumer products. 

The French ban, if implemented on an EU scale, would mean a reduction of PFAS emissions of only 20.2%, according to calculations by ChemSec’s in-house toxicologists based on publicly available data and using conservative assumptions that would tend to overestimate the total. Many of these uses are part of an ongoing market transition where alternatives have already been implemented. In other words, banning these uses is locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

This means the French ban will allow around 80% of emissions to continue. PFAS are far more widely used in industrial products and processes than in the consumer sector, while the proposed ban does not cover important consumer-focused categories that contribute to PFAS emissions. Since PFAS accumulate and remain indefinitely in the environment, levels will continue to rise. A 20% ban does not even begin to move the dial.

Consequently, the costs of cleaning up PFAS from water, soil and landfill sites will remain unchanged. The cost of cleaning up the pollution could reach more than €2 trillion across Europe and the UK over a 20-year period, it was recently revealed. 

A dangerous precedent

Finally, the French partial ban comes at the perfect moment for the European Commission, which is seeking to railroad a limited consumer products ban to show it is doing something about the crisis. “What we know we are looking for is a ban [on PFAS] in consumer products,” the EU’s environment commissioner told Reuters in January, making explicit an idea that has been swirling around Brussels for some time.

Policy makers may see this as a political expedient that will placate the public while pleasing industry, which is reluctant to innovate. Apart from failing to protect the public, such a bureaucratic short-cut would also short-circuit the ongoing preparations in Europe for a universal PFAS ban, kicking the can indefinitely down the road. 

Partial bans on forever chemicals only provide cover for non-innovative parts of industry to continue using these substances. A comprehensive ban that works with industry to phase out all PFAS is the only effective and responsible way forward.

A partial, sector-specific ban may turn out to be worse than no ban at all – a doomed leap into the abyss.