Pollution with eternal pollutants: European officials contaminated

At the request of several NGOs, eleven European political leaders agreed to have their blood tested. The result is clear: their bodies show traces of PFAS, sometimes at worrying levels.

“Scientists keep telling us that this pollution is everywhere. No one is immune.” It was to create an electric shock that the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a network of European NGOs, and ChemSec decided to test MEPs, vice-presidents of the European Commission and even the executive director of the European Environment Agency.

“We were shocked to learn that babies, even before they are born, are ‘polluted’explains Tatiana Santos, in charge of the “chemical products” file at the BEE. We thought, ‘OK, that means even senior politicians must be infected.’ We wanted them to face reality: they are victims too. They also have concentrations of PFAS in their bodies. We thought that if they were aware that it was also their problem, they would be more active.”

“Should I be worried?”

While some politicians accepted with enthusiasm, others refused. In the end, eleven people were tested, from different European countries. Of the thirteen PFAS controlled, seven were found in the blood of politicians, such as PFOA, classified as “carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and banned in Europe since 2020.

According to the conclusions of the NGOs, “in some cases, exposure levels exceeded existing safety thresholds” while “PFAS are linked to a range of serious health problems, including cancer, infertility, birth defects and immune system disruptions.”

When politicians received their results, the reaction was often the same. “They asked us to guide them, to help them interpret what they saw,”says Tatiana Santos. “Does this mean I’m going to get sick? Should I be worried? What can I do to protect myself from these chemicals? These questions were quite frequent: obviously, it affects their own bodies. But we asked them: can you tell us what you can do to protect European citizens? Because these are not isolated cases. There are no borders to pollution to PFAS. It’s a public health problem.”

Contribute to awareness

On the website of the European Environmental Bureau, certain statements by European officials have been noted. “Seven of the thirteen PFAS analyzed were found in my bloodexplains Margrethe Vestager, Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner in charge of Competition. PFAS can be found in our water, our food packaging, our face creams… I did this test because I wanted to help raise awareness of this simple fact: completely replacing PFAS may still take some time , but it’s the right way to go.”

Frans Timmermans, former vice-president of the commission in charge of the European Green Deal, is also quoted: “We call on Europe to completely ban the use of these chemicals.” A project for global restriction of PFAS is also being studied for 2026.