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The Map of Forever Pollution in Europe
Photo: Le Monde

Thousands of places in Europe contaminated with PFAS

24 February 2023, 15:16

Yesterday, February 23, major newspapers in Europe wrote about PFAS, when the results of the "Forever Pollution" project were launched. The map, compiled from data from European countries, shows that PFAS contamination is a widespread problem. More than 2,100 identified locations show concentrations so high that they are deemed hazardous to human health.

The map compiled by Le Monde and 17 other media companies in Europe is the first to show how widespread the problem of PFAS contamination is. The map shows 17,000 locations in Europe that are contaminated with PFAS and a further 22,000 locations that are likely to be contaminated. Of the contaminated sites, 2,100 have been found to have such high levels of PFAS that they are deemed hazardous to human health. 

The media companies behind the survey also write that the costs for cleanup would be so high that in many places it is considered unreasonable, while PFAS chemicals do not break down and are mobile, which means that the problems will not decrease, they are forever chemicals.

Lisa Skedung, researcher at RISE and project manager for the POPFREE projects is not surprised by the result, but believes that the problem is likely to be even bigger:

- Since few PFAS chemicals are analyzed in regular analyses, the problem is likely much larger than the map shows. There is also remarkably little data from Sweden, given that blood analyzes have shown that Swedish young people are among those with the highest levels in Europe.

- The important measure is to reduce the use of PFAS - which, among other things, has been noticed by the Swedish Chemicals Agency, one of the authorities involved in developing the broad PFAS restriction proposal and it is of the utmost importance that that proposal goes through.

At RISE, we plan to continue the work initiated in the POPFREE projects and in collaboration with different industries find, develop, and evaluate alternative solutions to PFAS. 

Read more about Forever Pollution project

Read more about PFAS 

Get in touch with Lisa Skedung or Tonie Wickman if you want to collaborate on PFAS phasing out.

Lisa Skedung
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Tonie Wickman
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