A new report by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and its member organisations has highlighted the widespread pollution of wild fish in seven EU countries with PFOS, a possible carcinogen.

PFOS belongs to a group of over 10,000 highly persistent chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). They are also known as ‘forever chemicals’ because they can take generations to break down in the environment. Exposure to some PFAS has been linked to numerous adverse health impacts, such as certain cancers, reduced fertility, and the disruption of the immune system.

PFOS was banned in the EU and globally in 2009 for most uses. However, due to its extreme persistence, it remains in the environment almost two decades later.

Under the EU’s Water Framework Directive, Member States must monitor PFOS in water and biota (living organisms in a particular region), such as fish, and ensure levels are not above safety limits set by the EU.

EEB analysed monitoring data of PFOS in fish, both marine and freshwater, from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden from 2009 to 2023. They found that 40% of fish samples from Sweden, 38% of samples from Austria, 32% of samples from France, nearly 25% of samples from Spain, and 22% of samples from Germany have levels of PFOS that exceed current EU safety limits.

EU legislators are discussing a new, more protective safety limit for PFOS in fish. If this new limit is adopted, all of the fish samples analysed for the research would exceed it.

The report highlights that this data only looks at PFOS in fish, and there are many other PFAS chemicals that pollute the European environment, so the true picture of PFAS contamination is likely to be much worse. Read the full report here.

To tackle pollution at the source and turn off the tap on PFAS, CHEM Trust is calling for PFAS to be restricted as a group. Read more about the universal PFAS restriction here, and the availability of PFAS alternatives.

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