Last week, three environmental organisations gave an ultimatum to French cookware manufacturer Groupe SEB over its use of PFAS, human-made, long-lasting chemical substances also known as forever chemicals.
Groupe SEB owns pan brand Tefal, which continues to use PFAS in some of its non-stick cookware.
According to ClientEarth, Générations Futures and Notre Affaire à Tous, the company's approach to forever chemicals is “outdated and inadequate” and fails to comply with legal requirements under the French corporate responsibility law.
“It's not just for PFAS producers to be sanctioned for what they're doing, but it's also for the companies at the end of the chain who really use those PFAS to show that is possible to have a PFAS free market,” Hélène Duguy, environmental lawyer at ClientEarth, tells Euronews Earth.
In response to the accusations, Groupe SEB told Euronews Earth that it will review its contents and respond, if necessary, in accordance with the law.
These allegations come at a critical time in the European Union (EU)’s PFAS debate. Brussels is under pressure to ban forever chemicals, but industry groups are seeking as many exemptions as possible to avoid phasing out these substances from their products.
But what exactly are the NGOs accusing Groupe SEB of, and how is this relevant for the broader EU PFAS regulation?
What do environmental groups want from Tefal’s manufacturer?
ClientEarth, Générations Futures and Notre Affaire à Tous put Groupe SEB on notice, a formal legal step that does not necessarily lead to a lawsuit. It could, however, if the company does not publicly commit to transitioning away from PFAS in the next three months, a press release by ClientEarth states.
Specifically, the NGOs argue that Groupe SEB’s latest vigilance plan, a legal document required by French law, identifies PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) as “safe”, thereby failing to recognise the risks it poses and to consider measures to mitigate them.
PTFE is the PFAS used in cookware produced by Tefal, which, according to a statement provided to Euronews Earth by Groupe SEB, “conducts its business in strict compliance with French and European regulations applicable to its industrial activities, under the regular oversight of the relevant authorities.”
Are Tefal pans ‘safe’?
Known commercially as Teflon, PTFE is a specific type of PFAS used in many products, including cookware, for its water-, stain-, and grease-resistant properties.
Unlike other toxic PFAS, like the potentially carcinogenic PFOS and carcinogenic PFOA, PTFE has not been linked to cancer, yet it has already put Groupe SEB under scrutiny.
In July 2025, three French environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the multinational for misleading commercial practices. The complaint was linked to an advertising campaign in which Tefal promoted its non-stick coatings as “safe”, thus undermining the risks caused by PTFE according to the environmental organisations.
“PTFE is non-toxic,” Hans Peter Arp, professor of environmental chemistry at the Norwegian University of Science, tells Euronews Earth. “But how it's made and how it is disposed of may release toxic PFAS,” he adds.
In particular, disposing of products containing PTFE through incineration might release hazardous chemicals into the environment.
“If you have these [PTFE] products in your home, which many of us do – I do – I may not be contaminating my home, but I might have been contaminating the area where the PTFE was made or the future area of the landfill where that PTFE is going,” Arp explains.
According to Hélène Duguy, the broader context of PFAS’s consequences is what Groupe SEB is failing to recognise. “If you want to understand the risks of a PFAS like PTFE, you need to look at the entire value chain,” she stresses.
Is Europe banning PFAS?
Over the last few years, PFAS have been highly discussed in the EU, which has vowed to ban forever chemicals in everyday consumer products, while allowing exemptions in sectors considered critical, such as defence and healthcare.
Industry lobbyists are currently working to obtain as many exemptions as possible to the regulation.
"It is by far the biggest file I've handled in the past five years," lobbyist Simon Terwagne told news agency AFP. The consultancy he works for, Forward Global, represents clients from the chemical industry.
"Reducing exposure to PFAS is a sensible goal, but it must be done in the most measured and proportionate way possible," he added.
The official proposal is expected in early 2027 as the European Commission is waiting for a final report from the European Chemicals Agency, which should arrive in December.
However, in March 2026, the agency already said that PFAS "pose growing risks to people and the environment", calling for a broad ban on their use across the bloc with some exceptions when there is no alternative.
As far as PTFE is concerned, there are alternatives to it in its cookware application. For instance, cast iron is a PFAS-free material that can be used in pans and other kitchenware. Groupe SEB is already manufacturing some products like this, and that is why, according to Hélène Duguy, the company should already be planning for a transition.
“We're not asking SEB to do this tomorrow, but to plan this transition… to make sure that their workforce has a plan B and that there is adaptation,” she says.
At the start of 2026, France banned the sale, production or import of any product containing forever chemicals for which an alternative already exists. The first draft of this law originally included prohibiting non-stick saucepans, but this was later removed following reports of “intense lobbying” from French manufacturer Tefal.
PFAS: A symbol of a broader environmental crisis
This is not the first legal action ClientEarth has pursued on the topic of PFAS. Earlier this year, the environmental NGO filed a human rights complaint against Belgium over its failure to tackle widespread PFAS pollution across the country.
According to Duguy, PFAS is becoming a symbol of the environmental crisis the world is facing. “PFAS is quite emblematic of a general societal reality, which is accepting collateral damage for the benefits of short-term profits,” she says.
PFAS were created by the chemical industry in the first half of the 20th century and are now employed in several items, including some raincoats, food packaging and menstrual products. Overall, they are difficult to remove from the environment and can have harmful effects on human health, two characteristics that major corporations like 3M and DuPont knew about but covered up for years.
PFAS pollution is particularly widespread in Europe. In 2023, cross-border investigation The Forever Pollution Project estimated that there were around 23,000 PFAS-contaminated sites across the continent.
Earlier this year, an EU-wide crackdown on forever chemicals in drinking water came into force, requiring member states to monitor PFAS levels in water and inform the European Commission of their results. If the limit values are exceeded, member states must “take action” to reduce the level of PFAS and protect public health – while also informing the public.
While this was viewed as a positive step, experts warned that the approach treats the symptoms, rather than preventing harm at its source by restricting PFAS from being made, marketed or released.