Eternal pollutants: alerts are increasing in Europe, the ARS reassures in Occitania, Future Generations protests

Waters under surveillance. MAXPPP

A European study, published this Monday, May 27, found TFA (trifluoroacetic acid) in 96% of the sites surveyed. Another investigation by the ARS, in Occitanie, identifies three sites exceeding the future tolerance thresholds for Pfas, per- and polyfluoroalkyls, a falsely reassuring observation for Future Generations. Before the examination, on May 30, in the Senate, of a bill aimed at protecting the population from these chemicals, alerts are increasing about eternal pollutants.

"Alarming levels of contamination" : in a survey published this Monday, May 27 , the European Action Network on Pesticides (PAN Europe) and its members, including Générations Futures in France, relay the results of a study which shows levels of contamination "alarming" of a chemical, TFA (trifluoroacetic acid), in 23 surface water samples and 6 water samples ;rsquo;groundwater from 10 European Union countries.

For several months, alerts have multiplied on the Pfas and the TFA.

Pfas, TFA, what are we talking about ?

Pfas is the English acronym for"per- and polyfluoroalkylated substance", a large family of chemicals, the best known being Pfos and PFOA, bringing together 4700 compounds. Better known to the general public as eternal pollutants, they are used for their anti-adhesive and waterproofing properties. Some pesticides are also Pfas.

A European directive imposes, on January 1, 2026, a drinking water quality limit set at less than 100 nanograms per liter for the sum of the concentrations of 20 identified Pfas, including the impact on health is "dizzying", declared last April 14 at Midi Libre Xavier Coumoul, professor of toxicology at the University of Paris Cité:"Of the very probable risks identified by the Academies of Medicine and Sciences, the associated pathologies are  kidney cancer, metabolic disturbances with an increase in cholesterol levels, growth retardation in the&rsquo ;child and a drop in the immune response".

On the probable effects, many cancers.

TFA is a degradation product of 2000 Pfas. Little research focuses on it and it is not subject to any regulation. But some European countries have implemented surveillance: Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway. Germany will also propose to the European Union to classify TFA as toxic for reproduction, recalls Générations futures, which estimates that "France is very late".

European study on TFA, 79% of problematic water samples: "Alarming"

The study by the European Pesticide Action Network and its partners, including Future Generations, was carried out on 23 surface water samples and 6 water samples. Groundwater from ten European Union countries. The study focuses on sources that are sometimes very far from industrial sites.

What does she say ? "TFA concentrations found in water samples averaged 1 180 nanograms per liter. This is 70 times higher than the average concentration of all other Pfas examined combined".

"In 23 of the 29 water samples", or 79 % of the samples, "the concentrations of TFA exceeded the limit value proposed for total Pfas in the European Drinking Water Directive".

In France, the waters of the Seine are not far from the record: 2900 nanograms per liter, "the second highest concentration" .

L’ARS Occitanie identifies 3 sites out of 326 above the Pfas  thresholds: for Future Generations, " this study is scandalous"

On May 24, ARS Occitanie communicated on the search for Pfas (only Pfas listed by the European directive, no TFA), a "campaign"which is based on 326 samples taken in 13 departments of the region. three of them "exceed the quality standard", or 100 nanograms per liter, and & quot;will be subject to detailed monitoring".

Seven sites "with concentration levels between 50 and 100 nanograms" are also "monitored", notably Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone in Hérault (95 nanograms) or Rodilhan in Gard (73 nanograms).

The regional survey takes the lead in an exploratory campaign by ANSES (the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety) which should start in the second half of 2024, specifies the ARS. It is not trivial: last October, the director of the ARS created controversy after the circulation of an internal email which expressed his concerns about the presence of eternal pollutants in water in the region. Last February, it was this time Future Generations which revealed worrying pollution with eternal pollutants around the Solvay chemical industrial site, in Salindres, in the Gard.

The site of, qualified as "special case" by the ’ARS, which has "analyzed 45 points" as part of its campaign, presents waters "compliant with standards". To the great astonishment of Générations futures, through the voice of its spokesperson François Veillerette, and especially of Pauline Cervan, toxicologist and project manager at the association: " This campaign is scandalous. This is totally hypocritical. By excluding TFA from the analysis, the ARS is lying by omission about water quality.

How senators will tackle the issue of eternal pollutants this week

Adopted in the National Assembly on April 4, the bill aimed at protecting the population from "eternal pollutants", arrived in the Senate on Next May 30, in this context.

The deputies voted for a text which bans Pfas in cosmetics, ski waxes and textile products, but not kitchen utensils. On behalf of the 3,000 jobs at SEB Tefal stove factories in Haute-Savoie and Saöne et Loire.

The mayor of Lunel-Vieil: “dismayed but not surprised”

A catchment north of Toulouse, a drilling in Greater Narbonne and the Les Horts catchment in Lunel-Vieil (Hérault) exceed the quality standard of 100 nanograms of Pfas per liter set by the ARS in Occitania.

"I am dismayed but not surprised. What is new is that we look and when we look we find , reacts Fabrice Fenoy, the mayor of Lunel-Vieil. Who reassures its population: "the ARS says that we can consume this water and alternative solutions, such as mineral water, with the recent scandals, are not more attractive! Afterwards, we don't know if it's a recent phenomenon or whether we have to look for the origin of the contamination several decades ago."

The elected official is counting on the ongoing environmental investigation to "understand". One of the hypotheses would be the deterioration of the quality of the Dardaillon watercourse where samples will be taken.

But it doesn’t exclude anything. "There are several possible sources of contamination", recalls the mayor who is launching analyzes to ensure that& rsquo;there is no link with the Lunel-Vieil incinerator, where again the fire in a hangar (the firefighters' extinguishing products have Pfas), a former fertilizer site or an origin far from its commune.

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