This represents a crucial step in the national strategy to reduce and eliminate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), with direct implications for several industries and for the entire European market.
1. Ban on PFAS in consumer products
The law introduces a ban on the production, import, export, and placing on the market of certain products containing PFAS. The first implementing decree clarifies the scope, establishing:
• Definition of PFAS: aligned with the OECD (2021) definition, i.e. any substance containing at least one fully fluorinated –CF₂ or –CF₃ group.
• Affected categories: textiles, footwear, cosmetics, waxes, and waterproofing agents.
• Actors concerned: manufacturers, importers, distributors, and suppliers.
• Permitted residual concentration thresholds:
- 25 ppb for each PFAS measurable by targeted analysis (excluding polymers)
- 250 ppb for the sum of PFAS (including degraded precursors, excluding polymers)
- 50 ppm for PFAS including polymers
These limits are in line with current analytical detection capabilities and may be updated in light of scientific and technical progress.
• Initial exemptions (from 2026): personal protective equipment (PPE) regulated under Regulation (EU) 2016/425 and waterproofing products for PPE maintenance.
• Long-term exemptions (from 2030): technical industrial textiles, medical textiles, and products essential for healthcare or national sovereignty, where no PFAS-free alternatives exist.
2. Progressive reduction of industrial PFAS discharges
The second decree focuses on industrial wastewater containing PFAS.
The targets set are:
• –70% reduction of emissions (compared to 2023 levels) by February 27, 2028
• Complete elimination of PFAS discharges by February 2030
This roadmap builds on a 2023 monitoring campaign, which revealed the presence of PFAS in about half of the industrial sites analyzed.
https://www.consultations-publiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/projet-de-decret-d-application-de-l-article-1-de-a3224.html?lang=fr
https://www.consultations-publiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/projet-de-decret-relatif-aux-modalites-de-mise-en-a3223.html?lang=fr
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