For two years, the agency's departments compiled " nearly two million data points relating to 142 PFAS for which measurements were carried out. These were supplemented by other substances for which information was found regarding their presence in sources of contamination or toxicity data that did not exist in the databases or literature that had been collected." , said Nawel Bemrah, coordinator of the PFAS working group.
A monitoring strategy for 247 PFAS
THE PFAS, used by industry in many objects for their non-stick, waterproofing or heat resistance properties, are extremely persistent in the environment and some have harmful effects on health.
In total, the agency offers " a monitoring strategy for 247 PFAS "In total, out of the thousands of existing molecules in this family. To define this strategy, it established a "score" for each of the molecules studied, based on available occurrence and toxicity data. And these occurrence and toxicity scores determine the type of monitoring for each of the 247 molecules selected by ANSES."
This monitoring could be carried out in three ways:
- in a sustainable way for the molecules best identified in the scientific literature, in other words the best known.
- in a " exploratory"With this type of monitoring, ANSES anticipates the possibility of regularly adding other PFAS which, at the time of its expert review, had been little studied," those that are rarely researched and not always quantified, precisely to confirm the value of integrating them or not into a permanent monitoring system " explains Céline Druet,Deputy director of risk assessment.
- in a localized manner. This monitoring will be carried out at well-identified sources of contamination or emissions on contaminated sites known for a long time or recently identified.
The Agency therefore recommends regularly updating these lists of PFAS to be monitored at the national level, based on the knowledge and data that will be developed and collected. It calls, in a way, for a certain degree of flexibility in these categorizations of substances to be measured in water and, initially, in food.
Among its main recommendations, the agency advocates expanding the list of 20 PFAS that will be monitored in French tap water from January 1, 2026, with the addition of five more PFAS, including Trifluoroacetic acid, or TFA, is an ultra-short-chain PFAS..
TFA, a degradation product, should also be monitored.
“ TFA was included because it addresses public health concerns. It occurs frequently, primarily in water, and furthermore, some studies have revealed that it is also found in human blood.", Ms. Bemrah stated.
At this unregulated stage, this molecule, a raw material in the production of plant protection or pharmaceutical products (antidiabetics, antivirals, anti-HIV, anti-cancer therapies, etc.) and whose toxicity is being evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), is the PFAS "most found" in tap water, according to an investigation report by Générations Futures, published in February. Trifluoroacetic acid or TFA is both a building block for longer chain PFAS and a product of their degradation in air, soil and water under the action of light and living organisms.
Read also"PFAS are persistent pollutants, but not eternal."
Monitoring should be extended to the entire food supply.
Another recommendation from ANSES is that, while only four PFAS (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, PFNA) are regulated at the European level in certain food groups (fish, shellfish, eggs, meat), the Agency recommends extending monitoring to more than twenty PFAS in total and controlling other types of food such as cereals, fruits and vegetableshoney, sugar and baby food.
Regarding the contamination of populations, " The average levels of PFAS measured in the blood of the French population are of the same order of magnitude as those measured in our European neighbors."whether in children or adults," indicated Céline Druet. The levels recorded are, again on average, " below health thresholds "existing," Ms. Bemrah specified.
"Holes" in the net
The work carried out by ANSES has also made it possible to establish " fairly large holes » in knowledge: « in the air, in the soil, in the dust, there is practically no monitoring element "In France," stated Matthieu Schuler, Deputy Director General of the Science for Expertise division, during the presentation of the reports. ANSES also recommends investigating other sources of contamination, such as materials in contact with food or water, and construction materials, among others.
“ We did not consider PFAS contamination caused by pesticides and pharmaceuticals, as this type of contamination is monitored by very specific regulations. "also acknowledged Ms. Bemrah, and added that certain PFAS (related to these categories of use, editor's note) or degradation products such as TFA are considered in monitoring. »
Finally, the agency recommends acquiring knowledge about occupational exposures, drawing in particular on the work of the National Institute for Research and Safety (INRS). This institute, funded by a grant from the national health insurance system, launched a major survey on this subject at the end of 2024, with results expected by the end of 2025.
With AFP
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