“The real solution for the future is to stop using and manufacturing these substances,” insists the association Générations futures.

“Above all, we must move towards an exit from PFAS by supporting this project to restrict PFAS at the European level,” argued François Veillerette, director and spokesperson for the association, on franceinfo on Thursday.

“The real solution for the future is to stop using and manufacturing these substances”affirmed François Veillerette, director and spokesperson for the Générations futures association, on franceinfo on Thursday, September 19, while 43% of tap water samples tested by the Radio France investigation unit and the France Bleu network contain PFAS, also called “eternal pollutants.”

These chemical molecules that accumulate in the body are classified as carcinogenic. According to François Veillerette, the worst is yet to come. Générations Futures tested samples of surface water and groundwater from ten EU countries to analyze the presence of TFA, a PFAS from pesticides in particular: “We see that it is found almost everywhere in the territory at much higher levels”he explains.

franceinfo: We can imagine that this is only the tip of the iceberg?

François Veillerette: This is very good work that allows us to learn more about the presence of PFAS in water and in tap water in particular. But in a family of 14,000 PFAS, 20 is not a lot. Of course, we are not going to test all 14,000, it is impossible. But at Générations futures, for example, we looked for a particular PFAS called TFA. It comes from the presence of fluorinated gases or the degradation of certain fluorinated pesticides. We realize that it is found almost everywhere in the country at levels much higher than those found in your work. Here, we are more at 300, 500, 1,000 or 2,000 nanograms per liter. There is a standard that will come into force soon in Europe. When we start to take TFA into account in the total of PFAS, the standards for the distribution of drinking water will be exploded.

Are we at risk of not getting on track?

Neither in France nor elsewhere in Europe will we be on target in a very significant percentage of the territory. We have a problem coming with PFAS and the health authorities at the European level know this well, especially when we are going to expand the list. It is necessary to filter. It is very expensive, a figure that is more than 200 billion euros for the treatment of PFAS in water for Europe, which is considerable, colossal. But above all, it is necessary to move towards an exit from PFAS by supporting this project to restrict PFAS at the European level. In the sense of European legislation on chemicals, this could go as far as a virtual ban. There is a stock of PFAS that is there in the environment, but we urgently need to stop releasing them again unless the situation gets even worse.

Are some PFAS more dangerous than others or is it their accumulation that is the problem?

I want to answer both. There are some that are better known than others. The old ones are known for carcinogenic risks, hepatic risks, but for products that are a little less known, we talk about effects on reproduction. We still have uncertainties about the toxic effects of some. There are so many substances attested that it takes time to have certainties.

“I would bet my life, with little risk, that among these thousands of PFAS, there are a very large number that will be shown to be toxic by new studies in the years to come.”

François Veillerette, director and spokesperson for the association Générations futures

on franceinfo

When we have toxic and very persistent products, we know that we are going to have to deal with a totally unmanageable situation. We must first stop dumping them into the environment and then try to manage things, filter, interconnect in an emergency. But that is a last resort. The real solution for the future is to stop using and manufacturing these substances that, in my opinion, should never have been put on the market because they are absolutely uncontrollable given their toxicity and extreme persistence.