Following a recent cadmium exposure alert from the Union régionale des professionnels de santé-Médecins libéraux, a French regional body representing private practice physicians, attention has shifted to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of long-lasting industrial chemicals linked to serious health risks.
Générations Futures, a France-based environmental non-governmental organisation headquartered in Paris that monitors the health and environmental impacts of chemical pollution, raised an alarm after analysing data from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), showing widespread PFAS contamination in food across Europe.
PFAS, often referred to as “forever chemicals,” persist in the environment for decades and enter the human body primarily through dietary exposure.
According to the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, this chemical class includes thousands of compounds that have been widely used since the 1950s in industrial and consumer products, including textiles, food packaging, firefighting foams, refrigerant gases, non-stick coatings, cosmetics, medical devices, and pesticides.
Despite their extensive use, only three PFAS are routinely monitored, and four are subject to regulatory restrictions. However, many others contaminate water and food at levels well above health-based thresholds. PFAS are associated with multiple health risks, including endocrine disruption (such as thyroid dysfunction), metabolic effects (including elevated cholesterol levels), hepatic and renal toxicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, and immune system impairment.
Alarming Levels
Générations Futures found that 69% of fish, 55% of offal, 55% of molluscs, 39% of eggs, 27% of crustaceans, 23% of milk, and 14% of meat samples contained at least one of the four PFAS currently regulated in food. In addition, the group identified seven other hazardous, non-regulated PFAS in samples of offal, fish, and eggs.
The EFSA has established a tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 4.4 ng ingested per kg of body weight for the combined exposure to the four regulated PFAS.
According to the data analysed in the report, a 4-year-old child consuming a single egg would exceed this limit by 1.4 times. A 60-kg adult consuming 500 g of meat would ingest 2.5 times the TWI.
The report highlighted that current regulatory limits prioritise economic considerations over public health. Authorities have set threshold limits on contamination levels according to observed contamination levels, aiming to remove only the most polluted products from the market. These limits also vary by food type and lack a consistent scientific basis.
Générations Futures calls on public authorities to follow the example of Germany and the Netherlands by implementing systematic monitoring of PFAS levels across all food types, not just meat, offal, and fish, and by strengthening regulations to limit emissions and reduce exposure.
The group supports the adoption of the PFAS restriction proposal 2023 under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals regulation, which aims to ban or limit approximately 10,000 PFAS compounds. The group also called for the revision of the PFAS limits set at the European level to better protect public health.
This story was translated from Univadis France.