Is Your Tap Water Contaminated With Perennial Pollutants, Also Called PFAS ? The Edifying Results of a Survey

The investigation unit of Radio France and the France Bleu network wanted to know what is in our tap water in metropolitan France. 43% of tap water samples tested contain PFAS, also called eternal pollutants.

You have surely already heard of PFAS, these eternal pollutants that can have significant effects on health.

From January 1, 2026, communities will be required to test tap water to detect the possible presence of 20 eternal pollutants. Residents will need to be informed and communities will need to take action to reduce this pollution.

Out of 89 samples, 43% contain PFAS

Radio France decided not to wait two years to find out and conducted the investigation. Between mid-April and early June 2024, each of France Bleu's 44 local radio stations took two samples based on its population catchment area, but also in places where the presence of PFAS in water sources was already known thanks to work by Anses, the French National Agency for Food Safety. power supply.

Of 89 tap water samples, 43% contain PFAS. 27 samples reveal PFAS that are banned or classified as carcinogenic, including five at worrying levels: in Auxerre (Yonne), Lille (Nord), Saint-Jean-de-Losne (Côte-d'Or), Saint-Vit (Doubs) and Déols (Indre).

Which municipalities are most affected ?

Three samples exceed the French limit. These are Cognac (Charente), Martres-Tolosane (Haute-Garonne) and Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon (Rhône).

Cognac is the most affected municipality. However, no instructions have been given to residents. 

PFAS, these chemical molecules created by Man, present risks to health and the environment identified since the early 2000s.

Teflon pans, food packaging, textiles, automobiles… Many everyday objects contain these per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which owe their nickname to their very long life cycle.

What does the bill contain ?

On May 30, 2024, an environmental bill to restrict the manufacture and sale of products containing PFAS was adopted by the Senate.

The flagship article of the bill, maintained by the Senate, plans to ban, from January 1, 2026, the manufacture, import and sale of any cosmetic product, wax product (for skis) or textile clothing product containing PFAS. PFAS, with the exception of certain industrial textiles or “necessary for essential uses”.

A tax targeting industrialists whose activities result in PFAS releases, based on the principle of “polluter pays”, is also included in the text.

These two key measures were adopted with some marginal adjustments, such as the exclusion from the scope of the ban of products containing “residual traces” of PFAS, including the maximum level will be defined by decree.

The ban on kitchen utensils, removed from the initial text by the deputies, has not been reintroduced at this stage, despite several attempts by the left.