Forever Chemical: New Report PFAS-TFA.
The Greens/EFA Group calls for a ban on all PFAS.
The Greens/EFA Group today presented a report on the results of blood tests carried out before the summer to measure PFAS contamination levels in 110 volunteers from nine European countries.
Among other things, the toxicological analysis revealed significant contamination with TFA (trifluoroacetic acid) in all participants. This is the highest level of contamination recorded to date in humans.
The Greens/EFA Group is calling for a universal restriction on PFAS at European level, including TFA. The substances that may degrade into TFA should also be taken into consideration.
In addition to regulatory action to tackle this pollution at source, it is calling for the ‘polluter pays’ principle to be applied to the remediation of sites contaminated by PFAS. Public exposure via the environment is a major public health concern.
The same applies to workers in the sector, for whom the Greens/EFA Group is calling for adequate protective measures.
Link to the report: https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/study/pfas-levels-in-europeans
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MEP Cristina GUARDA comments:
“We launched a testing campaign to identify both the best-known PFAS and those that lobby groups are trying to preserve by claiming they do not accumulate in our bodies. The result is plain for all to see: poisoned blood.
We tested 110 people across nine European countries, and in every single one of them we found TFA, the smallest and most persistent of the PFAS. A substance that ECHA classifies as toxic to reproduction. That is why I wanted to bring 30 women to Brussels – new mothers, those who are pregnant, or those hoping to have a son or daughter – for the tests: because these women and their children are paying the highest price for pollution they did not choose.
There is no alternative: PFAS must be banned, and the phasing out of the production and use of these substances must be planned, supported and carried through. We can no longer wait, nor can we allow ourselves to be the ones who pay the price.
If the Commission and Member States vote against the ban on PFAS, they will be knowingly complicit in an environmental and public health crime.”
Gordan BOSANAC comments:
“The true cost of PFAS is blatantly evident. Greens-EFA are asking the Commission and Member States to tackle PFAS pollution and urgently phase-out these forever chemicals from people’s daily lives. The health of our citizens must be put above the interest of the chemical industry. Polluters must pay for the damage they cause.
Recent PFAS groundwater contamination in Croatia is a stark warning: no citizen should ever have to fear drinking tap water or eating homegrown food. Inaction is not an option. The fact that Croatia lacked the capacity to handle PFAS-contaminated waste clearly demonstrates the limits of waste management and proves that these forever chemicals must be banned at the source. Inaction is not an option. The ongoing deregulation in Europe is quite simply criminal. It lets polluters off the hook and represents enormous costs to the citizens. The PFAS pollution is an EU environmental disaster which requires a universal ban.”
More: - TFA is a breakdown product of many fluorinated compounds: refrigerants, pesticides, medicines, and other PFAS themselves. Extremely mobile and persistent, it is considered the smallest compound in the PFAS family and accumulates particularly easily in water and crops. - Last June, the Risk Assessment Committee of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) recommended classifying TFA as toxic to reproduction (Category 1B). - In July this year, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reduced the tolerable daily intake of TFA by a factor of 3.5, based on effects on the thyroid observed in animal studies. - The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has been analysing a proposal for a universal ban on PFAS for the past three years. It will issue its final scientific assessment at the end of the year. In 2027, the European Commission will present a proposal to restrict PFAS based on this assessment. |
