PFAS: NGOs sue French state over failure to tackle 'forever chemicals'

By Stéphane Mandard | Le Monde | May 26, 2026

Read the full article by Stéphane Mandard (Le Monde)

"After legal action targeting industrial companies, it is now the French state's turn to be challenged for its role in so-called "forever chemical" pollution, the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are both highly toxic and persistent in the environment. On Wednesday, May 20, three non-governmental organizations (Bloom, Générations Futures and Notre Affaire à Tous), along with six residents of highly contaminated sites, some of whom are ill, filed a lawsuit at the Paris administrative court. The residents live in places such as Rumilly, where Tefal, the global leader in non-stick cookware, is based, and the area around Mulhouse and its airport. All plaintiffs are asking the court to order the government to stop PFAS discharges into the environment and to remedy the "ecological harm" caused by its "culpable inaction."

The lawsuit follows the pattern of major environmental litigation brought against the French state: climate change, air pollution, biodiversity loss and, more recently, the contamination of drinking water by pesticides."