European plants would be increasingly contaminated by eternal pollutants. According to a published report Tuesday February 27 by six NGOs, including Générations Futures and Pesticide Action Network Europe, the proportion of fruits and vegetables sold in the European Union (EU) containing residues of toxic substances PFAS has exploded in 10 years.
Also called perennial pollutants, PFAS are chemical compounds found in many industrial products, such as non-stick pans or agricultural pesticides. However, their structure makes them very poorly degradable in the environment, causing harmful effects on health for some.
Thus, the report reveals that between 2011 and 2021, the average proportion of fruits contaminated by these PFAS in the EU increased from 3.8% to 14% (+220%), and from 2.1% to 7, 1% for vegetables (+247%). Summer fruits such as strawberries (+534%) and apricots (+333%) are most affected by this upward trend.
An analysis based on 279,000 samples tested by Member States’ surveillance programs. In ten years, 8.4% of all these samples tested positive for one of the 47 pesticides listed as PFAS by a proposed restriction universality of these substances. This was submitted in February 2023 by five EU countries to the European Chemicals Agency.
The six NGOs also indicate that this explosion of PFAS contamination also affects France. In 2021, 25.1% of fruits and 8.6% of vegetables consumed and tested on French soil contained at least one PFAS. Percentages which even increase to 29% and 14% for fruits and vegetables grown in France.