Trifluoroacetic acid was found in the tap water of a large majority of cities where it was searched, according to an investigation published this Thursday by UFC-Que Choisir and the NGO Générations Futures. In 20 municipalities out of the 30 tested, the threshold exceeds the reference standard in Europe.
New alert in the taps: an eternal pollutant very complicated to remove from water, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), was found in the tap water of a large majority of the cities where it was searched, according to a investigation published this Thursday, January 23 by UFC-Que Choisir and the environmental NGO Générations Futures.
Found in the water of 24 out of 30 municipalities, it alone exceeds, in 20 municipalities, the reference standard in Europe of 100 nanograms/liter for the twenty regulated PFAS, which must come into full force in 2026, according to this survey.
“Nearly indestructible in the environment”
Almost indestructible, these “eternal pollutants” bring together more than 4700 molecules and accumulate over time in the air, soil, rivers, even in the human body. If exposed over a long period, they can have effects on fertility or promote certain cancers, according to initial studies.
If it is not, as the investigation highlights, “as dangerous as PFOA or PFOS”banned in Europe for several years, gray areas remain on the toxicity of TFA and it is “virtually indestructible in the environment”underlines the study.
Among the 30 municipalities whose water was analyzed, Paris comes second in terms of concentration, with 6,200 ng/l, behind Moussac, in Gard (13,000 ng/l). The town of Bruxerolles, in Vienne, completes this podium, with 2600 ng/l. Moussac is located near Salindres, where a Solvay group factory produced TFA until last September, the investigation recalls.
The TFA is in France “very little – if not never – sought by regional health agencies during drinking water checks”deplores the study, which emphasizes that it often comes from the degradation of flufenacet, a herbicide evaluated at the end of September by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). However, according to Générations Futures, it concluded that it is an endocrine disruptor.
-Strengthen standards
“If an active substance [ici, le flufénacet] is an endocrine disruptor, then its metabolites [dont le TFA] must be considered by default as relevant” and therefore controlled, estimates Pauline Cervan, toxicologist at Générations Futures, cited in the investigation.
Problem, the TFA is “less well remembered” than other PFAS by water decontamination techniques, both those based on activated carbons, as well as those based on membrane filtration, in vogue in the most modern drinking water plants, declared to AFP Julie Mendret, researcher at the University of Montpellier.
The difficulty in retaining and therefore removing this chemical from water is explained by its characteristic of “Short-chain PFAS”which contains fewer carbon atoms and is therefore “very small, very mobile”explains this water treatment specialist.
In addition to TFA, Générations Futures and UFC-Que Choisir analyzed 33 PFAS: excluding TFA, PFAS concentrations “remain compliant with the standard chosen by France” (sum of 20 specific PFAS limited to 100 ng/l).
But this standard is “much less strict than those of other countries” like the United States or Denmark, note the two associations, which believe that the French standard “is far too little protective” and do not rest “on no solid toxicological data”. These organizations call for the application of the precautionary principle.
