PFAS scandal: Ministry under the spell of the chemical lobby

Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl compounds, PFAS for short, are chemical substances that are as ingenious as they are diabolical: their molecular structure makes them virtually indestructible and therefore attractive for many areas of application, but this property also ensures that they accumulate in nature almost forever as eternal chemicals – including in the human body. Accordingly, politicians and environmentalists have been trying for years to at least restrict their use – from Teflon pans to industrial plants. So far, however, success has been limited and the problem is getting worse (see PFAS-FAQ and interview).

This also has to do with a well-oiled lobbying machine. And it apparently had good connections in the highest circles in the European Union – and in Germany, even as far as the Green Ministry of Economic Affairs led by Robert Habeck, who voters hoped would act more ecologically than predecessors such as CDU man Peter Altmaier. However, according to a report by the investigative network of NDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, there was remarkably close cooperation with the PFAS manufacturers. The research was carried out as part of the Forever Lobbying Project, in which the German edition of the MIT Technology Review (part of the Heise subsidiary yeebase) and other international media also took part. According to the researchers, the ministries had adopted PFAS claims of a false nature and had thus "fallen foul of the chemical lobby".

"Polymers of Low Concern"

In 2023, the Federal Republic of Germany, together with four other countries, proposed a fundamental restriction on PFAS. The aim was to finally stop or at least slow down health effects demonstrated in research – from the PFAS hormone effect, which can cause infertility, to cancer and liver and kidney pathologies. As expected, the lobbying machine kicked into gear after the announcement. The EU chemicals regulator ECHA received thousands of letters from the industry stating that it wasn't all that bad after all. Particularly in the area of so-called fluoropolymers, which have numerous applications in industry and households thanks to their non-stick effect, there is said to have been strong sentiment against a ban. The term "polymers of low concern" was used. In other words, they are ultimately not hazardous to health.

However, their harmlessness is disputed. For example, the industry has disseminated a position of the International Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to which the latter sees the "low concern" in the same way. However, it does not. "There is no consensus that fluoropolymers are of low concern," it said on its website. According to the investigative report, only a few scientific studies were cited as evidence by the industry, such as two papers in almost 1000 text passages. Among other things, it states that fluoropolymers are "too large" to damage human cells. However, the studies were paid for by the industry or the researchers were their consultants. The chemical lobby also claimed that it was possible to produce fluoropolymers in closed cycles without them being released into the environment. However, experts say that this is not the case with current factories.

Habeck sees danger of over-regulation

Despite these problematic arguments, the Habeck ministry is said to have adopted them, which also meant that the comprehensive PFAS restriction is now unlikely to happen. As early as 2023, the current Green candidate for chancellor Habeck said that he saw the danger of over-regulation – for perpetual chemicals in the fluoropolymer class. "Especially as they are used in closed systems in production." The Green Minister for Economic Affairs is thus in line with the Chancellery under SPD leader Olaf Scholz, which has stated that it rejects "blanket, indiscriminate bans on entire classes of substances". This, in turn, is likely to be the end of PFAS.

At a meeting a year ago, the Federal Ministry of Economics is said to have already given the industry the good news: They want to exempt fluoropolymers from the planned restrictions in principle. The term "polymers of low concern" was also repeated here. The Habeck ministry is also said to have adopted and disseminated horror figures from the industry –, including a large sum of money that would be lost to chemical production every year until 2040 if the required restrictions were to be imposed.

(bsc)