Toxic 'forever chemical' showing up in European food and wine
A team of researchers has found "alarmingly high" levels of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a so-called forever chemical, in dozens of organic and non-organic pastas, baked goods and breakfast cereals from Europe, as well as in wine.
"In conventional grain products, the average levels were so high that a health risk to children can no longer be ruled out," said Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, an environmental chemist part of the Brussels-based Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe, which describes TFA as a "product of PFAS pesticides and industrial chemicals."
Forever chemicals, also known as PFAS, are thousands of long-lasting substances used in household and everyday products since the middle of the 20th century but which have been found to be difficult to remove from the environment and from human bodies.
The latest research points to 'widespread contamination from PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) pesticides," PAN Europe said, warning that TFA tends to build up in water and farmland.
The amount of TFA in the food items was found to be three times that recorded in a similar study eight years ago, according to PAN Europe, which in April warned of "dramatic rise" of TFA in wine.
In a report covering wines from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain, PAN Europe found that while pre-1988 vintages do not contain any such contamination, there has been a "sharp increase" in pesticide and chemical residues in wine bottled since 2010.
Such a "steep accumulation" should be "a red flag that calls for decisive action," according to Michael Müller, a professor of pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry at the University of Freiburg.
The European Chemicals Agency has warned that TFA "may cause harm to the unborn child" and "may impair fertility."
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