Europe tightens limits on persistent water pollutant TFA

European food safety authorities have significantly tightened their recommendations for TFA, a pervasive pollutant found in water. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reduced the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for consumers to 0.014 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day. This new threshold is approximately 3.5 times lower than the 2017 limit of 0.05 mg/kg.

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This decision opens the way for stricter controls on drinking water on the continent.

The EFSA's decision stems from new scientific data, including animal experiments, that revealed adverse effects of TFA on development and reproduction. The compound was also shown to impact thyroxine levels, a crucial thyroid hormone regulating metabolism. Despite these findings, the EFSA concluded that TFA is unlikely to be genotoxic, meaning it probably does not damage DNA.

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This compound is the smallest and most persistent of the PFAS family, pollutants known as 'forever' because they can remain for years or decades in the environment.

However, the agency acknowledged lingering uncertainties regarding long-term toxicity and carcinogenic potential. To account for this "factor of uncertainty," the EFSA applied an additional buffer in its calculations for the admissible thresholds. These new limits are notably lower, almost half of the draft ADI previously submitted for consultation. TFA, the smallest and most persistent of the PFAS "forever chemicals," has been detected in a vast majority of water samples in France, highlighting the widespread nature of this environmental contaminant.

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This new value is about 3.5 times lower than the previous limit of 0.05 mg/kg, which had been established in 2017 based on a set of data then considered limited.