Sweden wants ‘forever chemicals’ out of clothes, but farms can keep spraying them

Sweden’s government wants PFAS removed from clothes, shoes, cosmetics and cookware in 2028, but the proposed national ban leaves agricultural pesticides outside the restriction.

The consultation also covers impregnation products for clothes and shoes and ski wax. Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari called PFAS “forever chemicals” and said Sweden would move ahead of the EU. The national rules would be withdrawn once EU-wide restrictions take effect.

The farm carve-out is not marginal. The Swedish Chemicals Agency says 38 plant-protection products contain one of six active substances that can break down into trifluoroacetic acid, TFA, a highly persistent and mobile PFAS. The agency says TFA can affect groundwater over time.

Those products are being reviewed, but the target for decisions is 30 April 2028. Any withdrawal may come with a grace period of up to 18 months. The consumer-products proposal announced on Thursday does not ban them.

That split gives shoppers a fixed date for several consumer products while fields stay under a slower regulatory track. The Social Democrats have proposed a national total ban on PFAS in agriculture, while the Center Party called on Thursday for an EU-wide total ban. The government’s new plan adopts neither demand.

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