If all goes according to plan, a European ban on synthesizing, processing, importing, and selling virtually all PFAS would be enacted in mid-2027. Exceptions remain possible, but the chemical company 3M sees stormy weather ahead and has decided to withdraw from the fluor chemistry business altogether. 

Last February, five countries – Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands – submitted a large dossier to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). The 211-page long Annex XV Restriction Report presents the arguments for a simultaneous ban of thousands of fluorinated substances (PFAS). The main reasons are the extreme persistence of PFAS, their steady bioaccumulation and the growing knowledge of their toxicity to humans and the environment. Traces of PFAS can be detected in anyone’s blood, especially people living near manufacturing sites. The substances are absorbed through food, drinking water and the air. PFAS sticks to proteins and excretion is much slower than absorption, resulting in accumulation in the body. There is evidence that this accumulation is detrimental to immune functions and blood cholesterol levels, and it increases the risk of kidney cancer.