PFAS Bans Are Spreading: Where Cookware Stands in October 2026

What are PFAS, and why are governments restricting them?

PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a large family of synthetic chemicals; the EU's proposed restriction alone covers around 10,000 of them. They share exceptionally strong carbon–fluorine bonds, which is why they are used to repel oil and water and to withstand extreme temperatures.

The same bonds explain why regulators are acting. PFAS break down extremely slowly, so what is released builds up in the environment over time. The authorities behind the EU proposal describe very high persistence as the concern shared by every substance in its scope.

Both the EU proposal and the UK government's PFAS Plan define PFAS in line with the OECD, a definition that takes in fluoropolymers such as PTFE, which is widely used in non-stick coatings.

Has the UK banned PFAS in cookware?

No. As of October 2026, no UK rule targets PFAS in cookware. The UK government's PFAS Plan, published by Defra on 3 February 2026 and last updated on 17 August 2026, names non-stick cookware among the consumer goods that use PFAS and commits to 'consider potential restrictions or regulatory measures on PFAS use in specific consumer product groups'. It sets out no proposal or date for cookware.

Under UK REACH, Great Britain's chemicals regulation, the one PFAS restriction on the Health and Safety Executive's registry of restriction intentions covers firefighting foams. HSE consulted on that proposal from 18 August 2025 to 18 February 2026, concluded in its risk opinion that a restriction is appropriate, and closed a further consultation, on the socio-economic case, on 7 September 2026. The plan expects HSE's final opinion in 2026 and the government's decision in 2027.

A few individual PFAS are already prohibited. The plan lists PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS, banned under the UK's obligations to the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants, and commits to reforming UK REACH by December 2028 so that protections can be applied more quickly and in a way more closely aligned with the EU.

Food-contact materials are being looked at too. The plan commits to more testing of them for PFAS, and reports that early sampling of items such as takeaway boxes found negligible PFAS presence.

Northern Ireland is a special case. Under the Windsor Framework it continues to follow EU chemicals legislation, and the plan notes that it is subject to the EU's actions on PFAS.

Where does the EU's PFAS restriction stand?

Authorities in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden submitted the proposal to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) on 13 January 2023, and ECHA published it on 7 February 2023. It covers around 10,000 PFAS and every use of them apart from firefighting foams, which a separate restriction handles. An updated version followed on 20 August 2025, after more than 5,600 comments.

In March 2026, ECHA's Risk Assessment Committee adopted its opinion supporting an EU-wide restriction, and its Socio-Economic Analysis Committee (SEAC) agreed a draft opinion supporting a restriction with targeted exemptions. The draft went out to consultation from 26 March to 25 May 2026 and drew 3,511 comments.

SEAC is expected to adopt its final opinion by the end of 2026; adoption is on the provisional agenda for its meeting of 17 to 19 November 2026. Both opinions then go to the European Commission, which will propose a restriction for discussion and a vote by member states in the REACH Committee. Nothing has been adopted yet, and the scope, exemptions and dates can still change.

Would the EU restriction cover non-stick frying pans?

As proposed, yes. The proposal assesses non-stick coatings on consumer cookware and domestic appliances as part of its food-contact sector. In its draft evaluation of that sector, dated 10 March 2026, SEAC agreed that alternatives are readily available and already widely used, among them ceramic coatings, stainless steel, anodised aluminium and cast iron.

On that basis, the draft found evidence that no exemption is needed for non-stick coatings on consumer cookware. Uses without an exemption would face the proposal's general transition period: 18 months after the restriction enters into force.

This is a draft view, not law. SEAC's final opinion and the Commission's proposal could differ, and the decision rests with the Commission and EU member states.

What has the EU already restricted in food packaging?

A food-contact rule is already in force. Since 12 August 2026, the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2025/40) has prohibited placing food-contact packaging on the market if it contains PFAS at or above set limits: 25 parts per billion for any single PFAS measured by targeted analysis, 250 parts per billion for the sum of targeted PFAS, and 50 parts per million for total PFAS, including polymeric PFAS.

That rule covers packaging such as wrappers and takeaway containers, not cookware. Frying pans fall under the wider restriction that is still being decided.

Did France ban PFAS in cookware?

No. France's PFAS law — Law No. 2025-188 of 27 February 2025, published in the Journal officiel on 28 February 2025 — has, since 1 January 2026, banned the manufacture, import, export and placing on the market of cosmetics, ski wax, and consumer clothing textiles, footwear and their waterproofing agents that contain PFAS, with exceptions such as protective clothing for national defence and civil security. From 1 January 2030, the ban extends to all textiles, with exceptions that include essential uses and technical textiles for industrial use.

Cookware was in the bill at one stage. The text approved by the National Assembly's sustainable development committee in March 2024 listed 'any kitchen utensil' containing PFAS as the first product to be banned. When the Assembly adopted the bill at first reading on 4 April 2024, that item had been deleted, and the law as passed does not cover cookware.

Which US states have acted on PFAS in cookware?

Several, using the same test: whether PFAS were intentionally added. Minnesota has banned the sale of cookware with intentionally added PFAS since 1 January 2025. Colorado passed a law in 2024 banning its sale from 1 January 2026. Vermont's ban on cookware to which PFAS have been intentionally added takes effect on 1 July 2028. Each law applies only within its own state.

What does this mean when you choose a frying pan?

In the UK, for now, it is a personal choice rather than a legal one. If you would rather cook without a fluoropolymer coating, the alternatives ECHA's committee named for consumer cookware — ceramic coatings, stainless steel, anodised aluminium and cast iron — are already on the market.

Read labels closely. A label about PFOA describes one substance, which the UK already prohibits; it does not say whether the coating itself is a fluoropolymer. 'Made without intentionally added PFAS' is a different statement: it describes what went into making the product, the same test the US state laws use.

Uncoated steel asks for a little technique in return: preheat the dry pan over a medium heat, check that a drop of water beads and glides, then add oil, then food. SEIDO frying pans are uncoated stainless steel, made without intentionally added PFAS.