The BANner PFAS initiative

HEJSupport joined forces with organisations and citizens from across Europe through the BANner PFAS initiative to address concerns about PFAS pollution.

The concept is simple: every interested organisation, group, or individual can share a 🤳 picture 📸 via this form featuring a banner with the hashtag #BanPFAS. We will then include the location (country, region, etc.) and/or organisation at the bottom of the banner. These photos will be compiled into one large poster, which will be shared on social media and with the press ahead of the European elections.

The “BANner PFAS” initiative falls under the umbrella of the Toxic Free Future Campaign and is promoted by The European Environmental Bureau and Alliance écologique et sociale – Rhône.

PFAS, per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, are a large family of over 4,700 human-made chemicals according to the 2018 OECD definitions. Since their introduction in the late 1940s, PFAS have been used in an increasingly wide range of consumer products and industrial applications, ranging from food packaging and clothing to electronics, aviation and firefighting foams. They are used for their capacity to repel both grease and water as well as for their high stability and resistance to high temperatures – thanks to their carbon-fluorine bond. However, this bond – the strongest bond in organic chemistry – is also responsible for their extreme persistence in the environment, granting them the label ‘forever chemicals’.

PFAS pose an unacceptable risk for both current and future generations due to their extreme persistence ⏳️, and there is scientific evidence that links exposure to these chemicals with harmful impacts on wildlife and human health such as cancer, infertility, birth defects, and immune system disruptions. From the thousands of PFAS present in our daily lives, only a handful are currently controlled by regulations at the global level, even though many safer alternatives are readily available.

We, European civil society organisations, urge to 🙅 ban all PFAS in consumer products by 2025 and to have a complete ban by 2030.

More information >>> https://www.banpfasmanifesto.org/en/