The Ministry of Ecological Transition has put online in the form of a map of the water analysis results carried out in groundwater, surface or distributed in the tap, as well as in industrial sites.
Analyzes relating to the presence of PFAS or “eternal pollutants” in water can now be free online on an online map, the Ministry of Ecological Transition announced Thursday evening.
“2.3 million analyzes relating to the discharges of PFAS in water are today put online and gathered on a single platform. In total transparency, this publication in open data is an unprecedented gesture in France and in Europe,” the ministry said in a press release.
The platform allows in particular access to a PFAS monitoring card in groundwater, surface or distributed in the tap, as well as in industrial sites. This publication follows an action plan announced by the government in April 2024.
Extremely difficult substances to eliminate
The PFAS, for per- and polyfluoroalkylated substances, called “eternal pollutants”, can have deleterious effects on human health: increased cholesterol levels, cancers, effects on fertility and development of the fetus, etc.
Massively used in industry since the middle of the 20th century, for example to make non -stick stoves, waterproof clothes or cosmetics, they are extremely difficult to eliminate once present in water or soil.
Their presence sometimes leads to prohibiting the consumption of tap water, as recently in certain municipalities of the Meuse and the Ardennes after the detection of abnormal rate.
Prohibition of PFAS for certain objects
The government also announced “the future launch of a public consultation on two decrees projects”.
One concerns the prohibition of PFAS in objects of everyday life (Farts for skiing, textiles and cosmetics) and the other the adoption of a trajectory of reduction of industrial emissions of PFAS. These texts will follow the law promulgated in February 2025.
“These draft decrees specify the field of the ban on these products from January 1, 2026, as well as the trajectory of reduction of industrial discharges of PFAS by 2030,” said the Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, quoted in the press release.
“The objective is to reduce the presence of PFAS in the environment and reduce our direct exposure to these products in our daily lives,” she says.