Environmental organisations and residents of some of France’s worst PFAS pollution hotspots have launched legal action against the French state, accusing it of long-standing failure to tackle contamination by so-called “forever chemicals”.
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Three organisations – Générations Futures, Notre Affaire à Tous and Bloom – alongside six individuals exposed to PFAS pollution, filed the case before the Paris Administrative Court on Wednesday.
The plaintiffs say the state has failed to adequately protect both the environment and public health from the risks linked to the chemicals.
In a joint statement released on Thursday, the organisations said they were seeking a court order forcing the government to take stronger action to halt PFAS pollution and to cover the environmental and health costs associated with contamination.
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances – PFAS – are synthetic chemicals widely used in industrial processes and consumer products because of their resistance to heat, water and grease.
Commonly known as “forever chemicals”, they accumulate over time in soil, air, rivers, food supplies and even the human body. Scientific studies have linked some PFAS compounds to a range of health concerns.
The claimants are calling on the French state to stop further release of PFAS into the environment, improve decontamination efforts – particularly for drinking water – and compensate individuals affected by exposure to the chemicals.
According to the legal petition filed on Wednesday, the plaintiffs are requesting €10,000 in damages for each individual involved in the case, as well as an additional €1,000 per person for non-material harm suffered by residents from the Haut-Rhin and Haute-Savoie regions. The court has not yet ruled on the case.
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Allegations of inaction
François Veillerette, spokesperson for Générations Futures, said the legal challenge was aimed at exposing what campaigners see as a pattern of state negligence.
“We see a two-fold failure here: past inaction and current inaction,” he told reporters.
The plaintiffs argue that the risks associated with PFAS have been known for years. In their research, they identified parliamentary reports dating back to 2008 that warned about contamination across French territory and highlighted the dangers linked to these chemicals.
The legal filing states that an examination of the French government’s response to PFAS pollution reveals “culpable failures” in fulfilling its obligations, which the claimants say directly caused harm.
Before launching the court action, the organisations submitted preliminary compensation claims in March to the Environment Ministry and the prime minister’s office. According to the petition, they turned to the courts after receiving no explicit response.
Campaigners also criticised what they called a slow and reluctant political response.
Although the government commissioned several reports into PFAS pollution in 2022 and 2023, France’s first law specifically aimed at protecting the public from PFAS stemmed from a bill introduced in February 2024 by Green MP Nicolas Thierry.
The organisations claim the government backed the legislation only at the last moment.
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Delayed implementation
Environmental groups argue that France faces particularly high levels of contamination, with PFAS found in a wide range of everyday products including cosmetics, cookware, food packaging and clothing.
The plaintiffs pointed to a report published in October 2025 by the French High Commission for Public Health and Environmental Policy, which found that 24 percent of French teenagers had PFAS concentrations in their blood serum above the recommendations set by the European Food Safety Authority.
In comparison, the figure stood at 18 percent in Germany and just 1 percent in Spain, according to the report.
While France has adopted legislation intended to curb PFAS pollution, campaigners argue that implementation has been too slow.
More than a year after the law was enacted, one of its flagship measures – a levy on manufacturers whose factories discharge PFAS into water systems – has still not come into force.
(with newswires)
