Perfluorinated: an insidious contamination - Alternative Santé

PFAS pollution in surface waters already has concrete consequences in France.

The Future Generations association has published a report on a subject that has not yet been explored much: the pollution of surface water – rivers, lakes or ponds – by perfluorinated compounds or PFAS. “OIt is only at the beginning of the awareness of this pollution which is generalized “assures François Veillerette, spokesperson for Future Generations.

Highlighted by the film Dark Waters in 2020, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl compounds, more commonly called perfluorinated or PFAS are responsible for a disturbing pollution and arouse belated awareness.

A deleterious omnipresence

In concrete terms, PFAS are part of a large family that includes several thousand synthetic chemicals derived from fluorine chemistry. They are present in many industrial fields, such as the textile industry, and everyday products, such as kitchen utensils. The main problem with these substances is their persistence in the environment. « For large numbers, they are very persistent, with very slow decay. When we have substances that accumulate in nature, that will inevitably create problems at the environmental level. »

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A major health risk

Problems that could have repercussions at the health level. About PFAS, Public health France refers to substances which for some are part of the ” category of persistent organic compounds ». « Population exposure is widespread through food, drinking water, consumer products, dust, soil and air “, can we read on its website. According to François Veillerette, these PFAS are endocrine disruptors. It refers to products potentially carcinogens and which have effects negatives about reproduction. However, not all PFAS are equally toxic, but as they form a family of several thousand substances, their dangerousness is not systematically known. ” There are thousands of PFAS about which nothing is known and it would take too long to evaluate them all. This is why in Europe, five northern countries have proposed strong restrictions on PFAS to limit them as a family. »

Towards a binding legal framework?

According to his spokesperson, the work of Future generations aims to shed light on this still little-known pollution. The association has chosen to work on the subject of surface waters, because there is data. The report highlighted an uneven search for this pollution depending on the departments, making it impossible to draw up a real inventory of pollution levels. The association is asking the government for work to ” strengthen and harmonize monitoring of this pollution and denounces an insufficient commitment of the public authorities while the European revision of the framework directive on water could intervene in the short or medium term and bring about a binding legal framework on the subject.

Contaminated fish

PFAS pollution in surface waters already has concrete consequences in France, says François Veillerette, spokesperson for Générations Futures. A study of the Dreal (Regional Department for the Environment, Planning and Housing), carried out with the Rhône Fishing Federation, highlighted significant contamination of river fish with perfluorides. Contamination levels in these fish exceed the tolerable weekly intake recommended by theEuropean Food Safety Authority.

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