Cleaning up Europe from PFAS would cost 2 trillion over 20 years

The estimate is included in an investigation coordinated by the French newspaper Le Monde into the spread of PFAS in the Continent. Producers’ lobby under attack

by Matteo Cavallito

 

Two trillion euros. That is, 100 billion a year for two decades. That’s the cost of decontaminating European soils from residues of PFAS, the fluorine-based substances of industrial origin known as forever chemicals, in reference to their inability to degrade in the absence of specific interventions. This was reported in recent weeks by the 46 journalists involved in the Forever Lobbying Project, an investigation coordinated by the French newspaper Le Monde-that has involved 18 researchers and experts in the study of more than 14,000 unpublished documents since 2023.

Hazardous and difficult-to-dispose-of substances

The PFAS category includes more than 10 thousand substances defined as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances considered particularly hazardous to human health. These are highly stable compounds that “are used in products designed to repel grease and water but are not readily biodegradable,” the journal Scientific American wrote. PFASs are typically found in fluorinated pesticides (i.e., those that contain one or more fluorine atoms in their molecular structure). These substances are considered particularly effective in combating plant pests.

Such efficacy is favored precisely because of their chemical stability, which promotes their prolonged action. This characteristic, of course, implies significant difficulty in disposal.

According to some estimates, the half-life of some fluorinated pesticides-that is, the time it takes for their presence in the environment to be halved after spraying-can be as long as 2 1/2 years. According to the EPA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a half-life of more than 60 days is sufficient to define “persistent” pollutants.

Fluorinated compounds are everywhere

The presence of PFAS, however, is not limited to pesticides. Widespread since the second half of the 20th century, these substances are in fact also found in fire-fighting foams, paints, many types of coatings, and food packaging. Their residues inevitably leach out everywhere. These eternal pollutants “are in the soil, in raindrops, in our food, in our blood. They can cause cancers, hormone and immune disruption, and much more,” the authors write.

“These chemicals – they add – hide in soil and buildings, their contamination gradually affecting surrounding waters, ecosystems, and human populations.”

Accusations to lobby and the limits of regulation

In February 2023, five countries – Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden – proposed a universal ban on PFASs under the European chemicals regulation (REACH – Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) with some temporary exemptions. In response to this initiative, researchers say, hundreds of representatives from some 15 industry sectors began lobbying European decision makers to oppose the proposal.

Reviewing thousands of documents, the authors challenged the lobbyists’ arguments, finding them to be misleading, unfounded or potentially dishonest in many cases.

The plastics industry, in particular, would use the influence tactics “typical of the corporate world, used throughout the decades to defend tobacco, fossil fuels, and other chemicals and pesticides, like Monsanto’s glyphosate.” Moreover, Le Monde points out, the regulatory process is reportedly at a standstill. “Only a few European countries have set specific limit values for TFA ((trifluoroacetic acid a member compound of the PFAS family, ed.),” the newspaper writes. In general, Le Monde concludes, “Not all PFAS are equally toxic at the same concentrations, but one thing is certain, according to experts: Current regulations are too lax to protect health.”