What do we know about the presence of perfluorinated compounds in our environment? Unknown to the general public, this large family of chemical products resistant to water, grease and even the most intense heat, has been used by industry for decades. Problem, these molecules, also called PFAS, are also very persistent in the environment, and particularly harmful to our health. “They cause cancer, disrupt our hormonal and immune systems, are toxic to reproduction and could even contribute to increased cholesterol levels, obesity or kidney disease”, recently reminded L’Express Linda Birnbaum, director from the Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the United States until 2019.
If the toxicity of these products is no longer to be demonstrated, they nevertheless seem to be poorly monitored in France. This is in any case the conclusion of an investigation carried out by an independent journalist, Martin Boudot, with the support of the NGO “Future Generations”, the first part of which will be broadcast by France 2. The object of their investigations : the chemical platform located south of Lyon, and more specifically two plants, Arkema and Daikin, in the town of Pierre-Bénite. Water samples were taken from the Rhône near these industrial sites, but also from taps in different localities in the conurbation, as well as soil and air analyses. And the results are clear: several PFAS have been identified, sometimes in very high quantities. “The whole area is seriously contaminated, and the levels found require measures to reduce human exposure to PFAS,” concluded Dutch scientist Jacob de Boer, a specialist in these molecules, who conducted the analyzes of the samples.
“A real wake-up call”
“Finding so many by looking at a single place represents for us a real alarm signal. We are asking that a national inventory of industrial sites likely to release PFAS be carried out, and that their monitoring be reinforced”, hammered François Veillerette , the spokesperson for Générations futures during a press briefing to present these results on Wednesday 11 May. In this regard, a first step was taken recently in France with the Climate Law: it provides for the government to submit a report to Parliament on water and soil pollution by PFAS by August 2023.
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Faced with the risks associated with these products, public authorities around the world have begun to act. Two molecules, PFOS and PFOA, have already been banned in 2009 and 2019, under the Stockholm International Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). But as often, there are still many derogations from their use within the European Union. And above all, the perfluorinated family has several thousand molecules – the exact number is not even known. So there is still a lot to do.
No monitoring in drinking water before 2026
Some states are more advanced than others. As of July 2020, Denmark has banned the use of all of these molecules in food packaging. And in 2021, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark have indicated their intention to restrict the manufacture, placing on the market and use of these products. “But we have to go further, and France could play a leading role in this area at European level,” insisted François Veillerette. For example by accelerating the monitoring schedule for PFAS in drinking water, which will only become mandatory from 2026 under European regulations. Or, “by pushing to ban the use of the entire family of PFAS as soon as possible”, added the activist.
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However, banning these products will not be enough to solve the problem. Indeed, the carbon-fluorine bond which characterizes them is one of the strongest in all of organic chemistry. It is literally not possible to break it down, and so these compounds will persist in the environment. Research will be needed to develop depollution processes, both for water and soil. Extensive program.
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