On January 14, 2025, Corporate Europe Observatory and the Forever Lobbying Project issued two reports unraveling an orchestrated lobbying campaign undertaken by the per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) industry and allies in Europe.
PFAS comprises a group of more than 10,000 human-made chemicals that have been used in consumer products and manufacturing processes. These chemicals are highly stable against degradation and remain in the environment once emitted. In 2023, mapping work by the Forever Pollution Project identified 17,000 sites in Europe where PFAS were detected in organisms, water, or soils, including 2,100 hot spots (FPF reported).
The Forever Lobbying Project built on this mapping work in its January 2025 report, calculating how expensive cleaning up PFAS in Europe would be for the first time. According to the calculations, it would cost two trillion euros over 20 years to clean up PFAS if their emissions remain unrestricted. This amounts to approximately 100 billion euros per year in ongoing costs.
PFAS industry lobbied the European Commission against ban
The lobbying action outlined in the reports was taken in response to a universal PFAS restriction proposed by Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden in February 2023 (FPF reported). The ban would fall under the EU chemical regulation REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) and prohibit all PFAS, with some time-limited exemptions until suitable alternatives could be developed. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is currently examining the proposal. Eventually, the file will be passed on to the European Commission, which will prepare a final proposal to be agreed upon by member states.
The January 2025 report from Corporate Europe Observatory showed that corporate lobbies have been proactively targeting the European Commission, even though this body is only supposed to be an observer at this stage in the process. The group’s survey of 15 European Commission directorate generals also demonstrated that the EU executive has no specific measures in place to prevent unbalanced influence from PFAS lobbies. As a result, talking points from these organizations have been adopted at the highest levels of the European Commission.
The most involved corporate lobby on the PFAS restriction, according to the Corporate Europe Observatory report, is Chemours, a spin-off business from DuPont. Other active lobbyists come from the semi-conductor, medical technology and pharmaceutical, battery, and other manufacturing sectors. Together, the largest PFAS producers have increased declared EU lobby spending by 34% on average over the last year. According to Corporate Europe Observatory, these organizations have found allies in the German regional and national governments.
Lobbyists used misleading tactics and information
In its January 2025 report, the Forever Lobbying Project stress-tested key arguments used by lobbyists and found that many were fearmongering, misleading, false, or potentially dishonest. The team of journalists analyzed over 14,000 unpublished documents on PFAS and consulted with 18 international academics and lawyers in locations such as Zurich, Stockholm, Toronto, and Rotterdam, including with scientists from FPF’s board.
The collected documents revealed key themes in the arguments made by lobbying organizations, such as Plastics Europe and its Fluoropolymers Product Group division. For example, lobbying groups claimed a lack of scientific support for banning all PFAS. They also argued that PFAS are involved in critical applications and that an absence of alternatives makes banning them unreasonable. Using these arguments, the lobbying organizations are advocating for no new regulation, self-regulation, exemptions, and longer transition periods.
As a major talking point, the lobbyists asserted that banning PFAS would negatively impact the economy, leading to job losses, investment freezes, supply chain disruptions, closure of product lines and plants, relocation, and severe impact on trade and competitiveness. However, they avoided talking about the potential positive economic impact of this ban given the high cited costs of environmental clean-up and the peer-reviewed scientific studies showing the significant healthcare costs associated with PFAS due to their association with chronic health conditions and human disease (FPF reported).
Call to action from Corporate Europe Observatory
With these findings, Corporate Europe Observatory is calling for an immediate stop to all private European Commission lobby meetings related to the PFAS restriction. The group is also asking the European Commission to accelerate work on identifying safer alternatives for potentially harmful substances, such as PFAS. In another request, Corporate Europe Observatory wants the European Commission to review its reliance on industry-sourced data when making policies about chemicals. The report concludes that it is time to put a lobby firewall in place to protect PFAS decision-making from corporate lobbying and conflicts of interest.
References
Corporate Europe Observatory (January 14, 2025) “Chemical reaction: Inside the corporate fight against the EU’s PFAS restriction.”
The Forever Lobbying Project (January 14, 2025) “The Forever Lobbying Project.”
Read more
Corporate Europe Observatory (January 14, 2025) “Chemical reaction: Inside the fight against the EU’s PFAS restriction.”
Clelia Oziel (January 15, 2025) “‘Corporate capture’ of EU Commission risks undermining PFAS restriction process – NGO.” Chemical Watch News & Insights
Rachel Savlidge and Leana Hosea (January 14, 2025) “Industry using ‘tobacco playbook’ to fend off ‘forever chemicals’ regulation.” The Guardian.
