From contamination to accountability: Europe’s drive to regulate PFAS and protect water resources
PFAS, often referred to as "forever chemicals", have emerged as a significant environmental and public health concern. Their persistent nature, widespread contamination, and potential adverse effects on ecosystems and human health have prompted a robust regulatory response. This article explores Europe’s ongoing efforts to tackle PFAS pollution, focusing on legislative developments, environmental monitoring, and the critical need for accountability to protect water resources.
The European Commission has committed to taking action to address the use and contamination of PFAS, through the EU's chemicals legislation (REACH), and other targeted environmental and health directives, such as the water directives. In 2020, the European Commission published its Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, part of the EU’s zero pollution ambition and the European Green Deal. A key aspect of the strategy is the commitment to phasing out the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the EU, unless their use is essential.
Some PFAS have been regulated in Europe as well as internationally under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. This is the case of the well-known PFOA and PFOS and chemicals that can degrade to them, which are part of the group referred to as “long chain PFAS”, widely used in the past. PFOS has been part of the Stockholm Convention since 2009 and restricted in the EU for more than 10 years, under the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Regulation. PFOA (also regulated by the Stockholm Convention) has been banned under the POPs Regulation since July 2020. PFHxS, another long-chain PFAS, was added to the POPs Regulation in May 2023 and the regulation entered into force in August 2023. Perfluorocarboxylic acids (C9-14 PFCAs), their salts and related substances have been restricted since February 2023.
A key issue with the current approach to addressing PFAS is its narrow focus on individual substances or closely related groups
As the regulatory processes on long-chain PFAS started, the chemicals industry developed as alternatives the so called “short chain PFAS”, which were later found to be equally persistent and can lead to adverse effects. For one of this “alternative” PFAS, PFHxA and related substances, the EC adopted new measures under REACH last September, banning certain uses after transitional periods of between 18 months and 5 years.
This highlights a key issue with the current approach to addressing PFAS: its narrow focus on individual substances or closely related groups. Given the vast number of PFAS, evaluating them on a substance-by-substance basis is not feasible. The substitution of long-chain PFAS for alternatives of increasing concern led the Commission to propose regulating them as a chemical class. Initiatives in this regard are underway under the chemicals and the water legislation, including work on analytical methods that measure PFAS as a group in different matrices. Furthermore, future regulatory initiatives need to clarify what is referred to as “essential uses” – those that provide high socio-economic benefits and for which there is no alternative so far, for example, medical devices or fuel cells for green hydrogen.
A pivotal step in tackling PFAS contamination is the European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) ongoing evaluation of a proposed universal restriction on PFAS, put forward in 2023 by five European countries (Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden). The Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) and the Socio-Economic Analysis Committee (SEAC) started to assess this proposal in June 2023, and their opinions are expected to be published in 2025. The Commission will then prepare a proposal to be voted by Member States in the REACH Committee before being studied by the European Parliament and Council. As of the latest progress update, from November 2024, the evaluation is ongoing with a restriction dossier that covers more than 10,000 substances used in more than 14 sectors.
Thee European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) is evaluating a universal restriction on PFAS, proposed in 2023 by five European countries
The Commission is also phasing out some pesticides that belong to the group of PFAS pesticides: approval of tritosulfuron is not renewed as of October 2024, while flufenacet and flutolanil are moving in the same direction. PFAS pesticides have been found to be a primary source of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) contamination in groundwater and drinking water. TFA is a very mobile and persistent fluorinated chemical used in the chemical industry, which is also the final metabolite of many PFAS. There is no specific limit for TFA in drinking water at the EU level, but it is ubiquitous in the environment and a cause of concern.
PFAS in European water legislation
Aligned with the strategy of regulating PFAS as a group, the recast 2020 Drinking Water Directive (DWD) introduced a limit (100 ng/L) for a sum of 20 individual PFAS, as well as a limit (500 ng/L) for total PFAS concentration. In article 17, the DWD established that by January 2024, the Commission would establish technical guidelines regarding methods of analysis for monitoring of the parameters ‘PFAS Total’ and ‘Sum of PFAS’, including detection limits, parametric values and frequency of sampling. These technical rules were actually published in August, 2024 with the Commission Notice C/2024/4910 “Technical guidance on analytical methods for the monitoring of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in water intended for human consumption”. The parameter ‘Sum of PFAS’ can now be analytically monitored, but measuring ‘PFAS Total’ is problematic. For the latter, the guidelines recommend three proxy methods, neither standardised nor harmonized. The OECD definition of the term PFAS (from 2021) was used, which includes trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). Because TFA concentration across Europe may significantly exceed the PFAS Total value, the guidelines propose to determine the TFA concentration separately and subtract it from the PFAS Total concentration. To note, however, as per the Directive, Member States may decide to use either one or both of the parameters ‘PFAS Total’ or ‘Sum of PFAS’, and are required to ensure compliance with these standards by 2026.
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) lists chemicals of concern in surface waters and the quality standards to be achieved for each substance are set in the Directive on Environmental Quality Standards (EQS). PFOS is listed as a priority substance under the WFD and Member States have been required to report on compliance with the EQS since 2021. The EQS for PFOS is currently 0.65 ng/L for inland surface waters, and 0.13 ng/L for transitional, coastal and territorial waters. There is no EU quality standard for PFOS in groundwater, and no standards have been adopted yet for other PFAS in surface or groundwaters.
Concerning wastewater, 2024 saw the approval of the recast Urban Wastewater Directive, which establishes monitoring requirements for PFAS at the inlets and outlets of urban wastewater treatment plants in the case of agglomerations of 10,000 p.e. and above, when wastewater is discharged in catchment areas for drinking water abstraction. Article 21 states the Commission shall establish a methodology for measuring ‘PFAS Total’ and ‘Sum of PFAS’ in urban wastewater, by January 2027. To note, Member States can choose to use one or both of the parameters (the same as it happens with the monitoring requirements for drinking water).
What legislative developments are on the horizon for PFAS in water? The Parliament and the Council are considering a Commission’s proposal of October 2022 for the sum of 24 PFAS, setting a standard for surface and groundwaters of 4.4 ng/L (as PFOA equivalents). Negotiations are underway to align it with the current drinking water standard for 20 PFAS, which is less strict, and inclusion of a 4.4 ng/L standard for the four PFAS considered most critical by the European Food Safety Authority (PFOA, PFNA, PFHxS and PFOS).
To note, some Member States have included other PFAS and thresholds in their national drinking water standards and guidance, such as Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden. Further developments are expected as concerns about PFAS increase.
PFAS in the European environment
Last December the European Environment Agency (EEA) published the briefing “PFAS pollution in European waters”, showing that most monitored rivers, transitional and coastal waters and a large part of lakes in are polluted with at least one of these persistent substances. The monitoring data from 2022, including 1,300 sites, showed levels above the EQS for PFOS in 59% of river sites, 35% of lake sites, and 73% of sites in transitional and coastal waters.
The assessment found variability across Europe. In 2022, 100% of the reported water bodies exceeded the EQS for PFOS in Belgium, France and Iceland, followed closely by the Netherland (96% of water bodies) and Germany (83%). Meanwhile, in five countries less than 20% of sites exceeded the EQS: Spain (18%), Ireland (6%), Poland (5%), Croatia (5%) and Estonia (2%); and in Bulgaria, Latvia and Montenegro no sites exceeded the PFOS EQS.
Although PFOS was initially regulated in 2010, it remains widespread in the environment
The assessment concludes that although PFOS was initially regulated around 2010, it remains widespread in the environment and underscores the importance of including more PFAS in monitoring programmes. The data supports the current proposal under the WFD to expand the list of priority substances to include 24 specific PFAS and the need to review the PFAS limits in the Drinking Water Directive.
The costs of PFAS
Mounting public concern over the risks posed by PFAS has intensified in recent years as more evidence of their widespread contamination and health impacts comes to light. Investigative efforts have uncovered alarming details about the scale of pollution and efforts to downplay their consequences, shedding light on the urgent need for action.
The Forever Pollution Project, a collaborative investigation effort by journalists across Europe led by Le Monde, revealed widespread PFAS contamination all over the continent in early 2023. The project calculated the cost of decontaminating Europe as more than €100 billion per year – and €2 trillion over twenty years. More recently, the Forever Lobbying Project, published in January 2025, involved journalists as well as an expert group of academics and lawyers to collect over 14,000 unpublished documents on PFAS to unveil a misinformation campaign to defend PFAS by the plastics industry, aiming to water down the historical EU proposal to ban PFAS.
Research by Swedish non-profit ChemSec estimated the global societal costs of PFAS at €16 trillion annually, including costs such as health care from exposure and cleaning of contaminated soil and water. That astronomical figure contrasts with the chemical industry's global market size, with revenues from production estimated at €26 billion annually and industry's profits at $4 billion.
The staggering financial burden of addressing PFAS contamination has drawn attention to the urgent need for accountability
The staggering financial burden of addressing PFAS contamination has drawn attention to the urgent need for accountability in managing these harmful chemicals. While the costs of decontamination and health impacts are immense, they raise a critical question: who should bear the responsibility for these expenses?
Given that water operators are the end receivers of PFAS pollution, industry groups and water advocates argue that the financial burden should not fall on those tasked with cleanup but rather on the producers responsible for releasing PFAS into the environment. This perspective underpins calls for legislation to enforce the polluter pays principle, ensuring that those profiting from PFAS bear the costs of their removal, as has been seen in settlements with manufacturers in the United States.
EurEau, the European federation of national associations of water services, supports the phasing out of PFAS as a prerequisite for a water-resilient Europe, and has called on the implementation of the polluter pays principle for any PFAS release, highlighting the impact of continued PFAS use on water resources and the financial cost of removing them from the water cycle. Whereas in the United States producers have settled court cases agreeing to pay billions to contribute to the removal of PFAS from drinking water, the same cases cannot be replicated in European legal systems. Court cases have been however launched, such as in the Netherlands against 3M. EurEau supports the establishment of health derived limit values for PFAS, including TFA in drinking water, together with control measures at source.
European water sector association Water Europe, also supports the ECHA PFAS restriction process, and Extended producer Responsibility to transfer the costs for PFAS removal to those putting them on the market. In addition, they call for a health-based threshold for TFA, aligned with a potential restriction and existing EU legislations that influence TFA contamination in drinking water.
Europe's journey to regulate PFAS underscores the immense challenges of addressing these persistent pollutants, their impact on water resources, and the urgent need for stronger accountability. While progress has been made — such as the inclusion of PFAS in various legislative frameworks and initiatives to regulate them as a chemical class — continued action is needed to expand monitoring, establish and harmonise health-based limits for the presence of PFAS across different matrices, and push forward with restrictions at the source. Combined with strategies to implement the polluter pays principle, these efforts will pave the way for a healthier environment and a sustainable future for all.