France bans PFAS in cosmetics and consumer textiles

21 February 2025

France passed a law on Thursday banning the use of so-called of PFAS or “forever chemicals” in cosmetics and clothing. These chemicals are highly toxic, very persistent and hard to remove from the environment, posing serious risks to human health.

The new law bans the manufacture, import, export and sale of cosmetic products, clothing and shoes, but does not cover protective clothing and footwear such as that worn by security guards and firefighters, or non-stick pans and other utensils for cooking. The law will take effect at the beginning of 2026.

SAFE supports a full EU ban on these substances.

In 2024, the European Commission adopted restrictions on a subgroup of PFAS — PFHxA and their related substances, in food packaging, cosmetics, and consumer textiles.  However, only a few PFAS are currently banned at the EU level.

PFAS include more than 10,000 different chemicals, many of which are highly toxic and can accumulate and persist for extremely long periods of time. The substances are suspected of causing liver damage as well as kidney and testicular cancer.

The new law also includes the obligation to check in future for the presence of forever chemicals in drinking water, following warnings from environmentalists and members of the water industry that PFAS can be detected in tap water.