The European Union is working to strengthen its regulations on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), synthetic compounds that persist indefinitely in the human body and the environment. The chemicals, present in thousands of everyday products including cookware, are already more tightly regulated in the EU than in many other parts of the world, but critics argue that industrial lobbying has slowed the push for stricter controls. The outcome of these regulatory efforts matters broadly, as PFAS contamination poses long-term health and environmental risks to populations across the continent and beyond.