Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-001786/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Cristina Guarda (Verts/ALE), Sigrid Friis (Renew), Heléne Fritzon (S&D)
Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), an ultrashort per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) and a degradation product of several PFAS chemicals, has emerged as a significant yet largely overlooked contaminant in European water sources.
TFA pollution is extensive, with concentrations several orders of magnitude higher than those of other PFAS pollutants, including in drinking water, throughout Europe. Given TFA’s persistence and mobility in the water cycle and considering recent evidence about its toxicity potential to human reproduction[1], its accumulation poses a significant challenge to water resilience and public health. Recent scientific warnings have identified TFA as a planetary boundary threat due to the increasing global exposure and the potential for irreversible impacts[2]. According to recent scientific findings, the use of PFAS pesticides is a major source of TFA in the environment[3]. Currently, more than 30 PFAS pesticide substances are approved for agricultural use in the EU, contaminating our food and water resources with TFA.
Fifty Members of the European Parliament have written to the Commission, urging it to ban all PFAS pesticides.
As the Water Resilience Strategy is being developed, will the Commission consider adopting stricter regulations on TFA in water and phasing out its primary sources, including PFAS pesticides?
Submitted: 2.5.2025
- [1] European Chemicals Agency, ‘Registry of CLH intentions until outcome – Tricluoroacetic acid’, ECHA website, https://echa.europa.eu/registry-of-clh-intentions-until-outcome/-/dislist/details/0b0236e188e6e587.
- [2] Arp, H. P. H., et al., ‘The global threat from the irreversible accumulation of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)’, Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 58, Issue 45, 2024, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c06189.
- [3] Sturm, S. et al., Trifluoroacetate (TFA): Laying the foundations for effective mitigation, Umweltbundesamt, 2023; Joerss, H. et al., ‘Pesticides can be a substantial source of trifluoroacetate (TFA) to water resources’, Environment International, Issue 193, 2024, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39442319/.