“The greatest contamination on a European scale”: water massively polluted by a chemical product, according to associations

La Seine à Paris le 14 mai 2024. (illustration) MAXPPP – Teresa Suarez

European waters are massively contaminated by a very persistent chemical, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), according to associations, which denounce "the largest known contamination of the’ water on a European scale by a man-made chemical".

The European Pesticide Action Network (PAN Europe) and its members, including Générations Futures in France, analyzed 23 surface water samples and six water samples. groundwater from ten EU countries, looking for this product. It comes from the degradation of PFAS, nicknamed "eternal pollutants", but also serves as a starting product for the production of some of them.

Result: "the extent of the contamination is alarming and calls for decisive action", write the associations in a report published Monday.

These TFAs can come from the degradation of PFAS pesticides, used in agriculture for their stability, but also from certain refrigerant gases or from discharges from the PFAS manufacturing industry, largely used, for example for the non-stick coating of pans, fire-fighting foams or cosmetics.

The analysis, carried out by the Karlsruhe Water Technology Center, highlights the presence of TFA "in all water samples ;rsquo;water", with concentrations ranging from 370 nanograms per liter (ng/l) to 3 300 ng/l.

They are important in rivers such as the Elbe in Germany, the Seine (in the heart of Paris), the Oise and the Somme in France or the Mehaigne in Belgium. NGOs are concerned about the impact on the quality of tap water – which will be the subject of a future study – more than the possible risks of a dip in the Seine, where events are to take place this summer during the Olympic Games.

"Unanswered questions"

"It is estimated that there is no risk in swimming in the Seine in any case with regard to the TFA& ;quot;, indicated Pauline Cervan, toxicologist at Générations Futures. "It’is occasional and therefore completely different from chronic exposure to drinking water".

As for the origin of the problem in Europe, "the main cause of diffuse TFA pollution is PFAS pesticides in rural areas& quot;, judged Pauline Cervan.

"79 % of samples had TFA levels above the limit of 500 ng/l proposed by the European Water Directive potable for all PFAS", notes the report.

However, TFA is not currently specifically regulated: it is classified as "not relevant"by the European authorities and therefore escapes the threshold (100 ng/liter) limit for certain pesticides and products resulting from their degradation in groundwater.

A choice that the associations regret, who emphasize its persistence in the environment, the impossibility of getting rid of it with the usual drinking water treatment processes and a "toxicological profile (which) still leaves many unanswered questions".

In this regard, they cite a study which notes "ocular malformations" in rabbits "having received TFA", but without conclusion at this stage on the man.

Few studies have been carried out and they come from all industrial companies. "This lack of knowledge, whether on the toxicity to humans or the environment, is totally abnormal given the extreme persistence of TFA and its widespread contamination of the environment", estimated Pauline Cervan.

Advocating the precautionary principle, the associations are calling in particular for a ban "rapid" PFAS pesticides and a general restriction on the use of "perennial pollutants".< /p>

"Pollution will increase day by day if decisive measures are not taken", the report notes.