Major announcements followed by political inertia: The road to banning "forever chemicals," toxic and persistent compounds found in virtually all humans worldwide, has been fraught with obstacles. On Tuesday, September 9, the publication of one of the decrees implementing the French law, which was adopted in February, "aimed at protecting the population from the risks linked to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances," or PFAS, has only provided further evidence of this.

According to the decree, industrial facilities that discharge PFAS into water must cut their emissions by 70% by February 2028, and reach a 100% cut by 2030. However, the decree is vague and "does not set any methods for monitoring these discharges, does not specify whether these targets must be met on the level of each industrial facility, and sets out only one step," according to the NGOs Générations Futures and Notre Affaire à Tous.

Just days earlier in Brussels, a new roadmap for the proposed ban on PFAS in the European Union, which aims to stop the emission of 10,000 of these substances, was published by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). The document sparked consternation and anger among NGOs, scientists and communities living near the contaminated sites. The roadmap contrasted sharply with the tone the Danish EU presidency had tried to set at the start of its term, in early July. "It is crucial that we now take strong action against PFAS pollution," said the Danish environment minister, Magnus Heunicke.

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