Since January, the analysis of 20 PFAS in drinking water has been mandatory in France, in accordance with a European directive. The analyses of these molecules, which persist in the environment and accumulate in organisms, will be financed by local authorities and therefore billed to households.
The directive provides for a maximum of 100 nanograms per liter of tap water (200 ng for raw water, before treatment) for the sum of the concentrations of 20 PFAS, the standard adopted by France.
"With this new regulation, we will have results throughout France," rejoices Olivier Andrault of UFC-Que Choisir, while regretting regulatory thresholds less strict than those adopted by other European countries or the United States.
-What do the scientists say?
The Directorate General of Health (DGS), a branch of the ministry, responds that "scientific uncertainties" remain regarding the actual danger of these substances and seeks to reassure: analyses carried out on 35 different PFAS between 2023 and 2026 only found 21 TP3T of non-compliance.
Nicolas Thierry, the Green Party MP who initiated the February 2025 law on "perpetual pollutants," protests: "There is no scientific uncertainty about PFAS. More than 10,000 have been identified. They were created by industry to be virtually indestructible. Their extreme persistence means that they can all be considered dangerous."
In addition to the threshold of 100 ng/L for 20 PFAS, the High Council for Public Health (HCSP), an independent body that advises the Ministry of Health, recommended in 2024 to retain "(a) threshold of 20 ng/L for the sum of the concentrations of four PFAS (PFOA, PFOS, PFNA and PFHxS)" whose monitoring is considered a priority.
The body also advises adapting analyses locally if "a particular and significant water pollution is detected".
– Variable inspection frequencies
In France, the search for PFAS is carried out within the framework of regulatory health control under the responsibility of the Regional Health Agencies (ARS). Each ARS selects, through a call for tenders, one or more analytical laboratories accredited by ANSES.
The frequency of these analyses, carried out in raw water and at the point of distribution or at the tap, can vary greatly, depending on the volume of water distributed and the origin of the water: from one measurement every two years to one per month, or even more if necessary, according to the FNCCR, a federation of local authorities which represents, for water management, more than 51 million inhabitants.
The results of the analyses are communicated to the communities or their operators and compiled by the Ministry of Health, which publishes them on a website currently being redesigned.
– An additional cost, but one that tends to decrease
This addition to the sanitary control of water represents an additional cost "of 40 to 50 euros excluding tax per analysis of the sum of the 20 PFAS (all carried out at the same time)", according to Régis Taisne, head of the water cycle department at the FNCCR.
"A far cry from the 300 to 600 euros (...) charged a few years ago when analytical processes were not yet industrialized and analyses were carried out on a case-by-case basis," he adds.
This does not include specific analyses for short-chain PFAS, such as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), which Anses highlighted as being omnipresent in water (92% of the samples analyzed) during a recent research campaign.
Based on its recommendations, this PFAS, whose toxicity is currently being evaluated, has been included in the list of perennial pollutants to be monitored in tap water, but from January 1, 2027.
"The more we delay monitoring, the more we delay action," laments Pauline Cervan, toxicologist at Générations Futures, for whom "this delay is unacceptable."
The DGS explains this delay by the need to "allow time for laboratories to develop their skills and for the ARS to complete their public contracts for sample collection and analysis".
According to her, the detection of TFA incurs an additional cost of "a few tens of euros per analysis".
"The costs are still high (more than 100 euros) but should be reduced in the same order of magnitude as the sum of the 20 PFAS" when they are systematized in 2027, says Régis Taisne.
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