It recently emerged that building products such as rubber tape, surface-treated wooden floors, and glass and rock wool may contain PFAS – building products that can be purchased in regular hardware stores, for example when renovating and building new. PFAS is extremely difficult to break down. When it is included in building products, we risk spreading pollution to soil and groundwater for decades after the building has been built. It is an invisible pollution that we pass directly on to future generations.

In connection with the report 'PFAS in building materials – challenges and solutions on the path towards circular construction' PFAS was found in 25 percent of the tested building products. The level of PFAS in some samples is so high that it exceeds the limit value proposed in the PFAS restriction proposal. A proposal that is under negotiation in the EU system. However, a strong lobbying effort from the chemical industry is watering down the bill as revealed by 'The Forever Lobbying Project'.

This is despite the fact that PFAS increases the risk of kidney cancer and high cholesterol, among other things, and can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines in children. PFAS are also suspected of being endocrine disruptors. In addition to the problematic health effects of PFAS, another big question is pressing: What do we do with the requirements for more reuse and recycling of materials and the large amounts of construction waste when these contain PFAS? According to a report from the Nordic Council of Ministers, PFAS-related health and environmental impacts cost European society between 52 and 84 billion euros annually.

There is new legislation on the way that deals with chemicals more broadly. This includes the Waste Regulation and the Construction Products Regulation, but only harmful chemicals are mentioned here and not PFAS separately. We need innovative developers. But in order for them to act, clarification is needed in the PFAS area. We must therefore take other paths while we wait for the EU's decision on the PFAS ban. Denmark should create a national strategy for phasing out PFAS in construction.

Requirements for the content of harmful chemicals should be tightened so that information about ingredients, including PFAS, becomes available to everyone. This would be an important step towards circular construction.

Photo: Henning Larsen / Ramboll Adobe stock license for #78118528

This debate post was published in Information on 13/11/2025. It was written by: 

• The senders are: Anna-Mette Monnelly, specialist, Søren Jensen,
• Martha Lewis, Head of materials, Henning Larsen
• Lone Mikkelsen, senior advisor at the Green Transition Denmark