Water companies have called for PFAS chemicals to be banned in pesticides after a study showed that one-third of people are exposed to high levels of the “forever chemicals” in drinking water.
An analysis by Greenpeace of every postcode in the Netherlands showed that the water in 32% of areas contains PFAS levels that are at least 1.5 times the recommended safe level.
The environmental inspection agency ILT blames the increased use of trifluoroacetic acid in pesticides by agricultural sectors such as potato farming, which has almost doubled in the last two years. The ILT says two tonnes of the chemical end up in the water supply per year.
The highest concentrations are in the provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Zeeland, with towns such as Zaandam, Purmerend and IJmuiden recording 14.3 nanograms per litre.
PFAS is a collective label for thousands of highly stable chemical compounds that are used extensively in packaging, liquid chemicals and products such as waterproof clothing and non-stick cooking pans.
They are attractive to industry because they are extremely durable, but prolonged exposure increases the risk of cancer, immune system problems, low fertility and damage to unborn babies.
High blood levels
A recent study by the public health agency RIVM showed almost everyone in the Netherlands has unhealthy levels of PFAS in their blood.
Greenpeace compiled a dataset and built an online tool allowing householders to see how much PFAS is in their drinking water, with a map to show the most polluted and least polluted areas.
“We think this information should be available to everyone, so we asked a data analyst to set out clearly how much pollution is in the water per location,” campaign leader Eline Bosman told NRC.
There are strong regional variations, with the northern provinces of Drenthe, Friesland and Groningen showing almost no PFAS chemicals in drinking water.
Patricia van der Linden of Vewin, the association of Dutch drinking water suppliers, said the west of the country drew its water supply from rivers and reservoirs, which are more polluted than water sources in rural areas.
“Ground water contains less pollution than surface water,” she said. “In places where we use surface water for drinking water, we have to take more steps to purify the water.”
Immune system
Although none of the water supplies exceed the legal limit set by the European Union, they are well above the RIVM’s advisory limit of 4.4 nanograms.
The agency lowered the guideline level in 2023 in the light of new information that showed PFAS chemicals have a greater impact on the immune system than previously thought.
Germany, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian nations have been lobbying since February 2023 for a total ban on PFAS in pesticides throughout the EU.
RIVM spokesman Coen Berends told NRC: “We can see that banning individual types of PFAS makes a difference, but really the whole group should be banned.”
