Without PFAS, there will be no green transition, no digital transition, no more semiconductors. If industry is to be believed, ban PFAS and you're guaranteed a shortage of medicines and the end of strategic autonomy and European sovereignty. In short, an unprecedented socio-economic disaster. "PFAS are like mushrooms," as Tefal, inventor of the non-stick frying pan, put it: "There are dangerous ones and not dangerous ones." So, is Europe really sure they should be banned?

Every lobbying campaign has its arguments. The one launched against the proposal for a "universal restriction" ("uPFAS") of per- and polyfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) is no exception. Proposed in February 2023 by Germany, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden under the European REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals), "uPFAS" has since mobilized hundreds of lobbyists, dedicated to defending the interests of some 15 industry sectors. Duplicated, repeated, amplified in meetings, in emails, webinars or posts on LinkedIn, are the lobbying arguments deployed by these industrialists based on reliable, verifiable data?

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