Environmental risk Trifluoroacetate – plant toxin TFA found in drinking water – News


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Swiss drinking water contains the problematic substance trifluoroacetate (TFA). Even bottled branded water. This is shown by samples from SRF Investigativ. TFA can hardly be filtered out. The EU is now having the substance examined for its dangerousness. Switzerland has been struggling so far.

Whether in medicines, coolants or pesticides: Trifluoroacetate (TFA) is found in countless chemicals. The substance has useful properties, for example it acts as a stabilizer. But it is precisely this resistance that is also the problem: as soon as TFA gets into the water, it does not break down there, but instead accumulates more and more. “TFA is very durable,” says Roman Wiget, water supplier in the Bernese Seeland, “the substance accompanies us throughout our lives.”

Tour de Suisse for water samples

In order to find out whether there is actually TFA in drinking water, SRF Investigativ took ten water samples between Lake Constance and Lake Neuchâtel. On drinking faucets in schools, community centers and museums. In addition, the editors had seven top-selling mineral waters from the retail trade analyzed.

How toxic is TFA?


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TFA is toxic to algae, studies show. This means that the plants can no longer grow properly with TFA in the water and some of them die. Studies with rats and rabbits, some of which are still ongoing, also indicate malformations and growth disorders in mammals – but only at very high concentrations of trifluoroacetate. Daniel Dietrich, Professor of Environmental and Human Toxicology at the University of Konstanz, therefore does not assume a health risk for humans. But he says: “Even if TFA should not be toxic to humans, one has to consider whether this substance belongs in the environment.” The German Federal Environment Agency recommends reducing TFA concentrations, also because risks have often been overlooked in the past.

TFA in school and community water

The “Technology Center Water” in Karlsruhe found TFA in all drinking water samples – with values ​​between 0.51 and 1.5 µg/l (Values ​​and statements see box). “It’s very similar to the situation in Germany,” says Karsten Nödler from the laboratory. Normally, higher concentrations would be measured in areas used intensively for agriculture.

The laboratory found one of the highest TFA values ​​in Neerach. Like many others in Switzerland, the Zurich community has invested a lot of money in drinking water in recent years. For Mayor Markus Zink, clean water is a complex problem: “The manufacturer wants to sell chemicals, the farmer wants a good harvest and the population wants clean water.” This is a social dilemma that can only be solved together, and TFA is probably not the last chemical that can be detected in water.

Legend:

10 municipalities and their TFA values

SRF took water samples from these 10 communities. To classify the concentrations: In the case of pesticides, the authorities must check measures from a value of 0.1 µg/l. The German Federal Environment Agency recommends not to exceed 10 µg/l TFA in water, the guide value there is 60 µg/l.

SRF

This is what the municipalities say about the TFA values


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Some of the 10 communities where SRF sampled water wrote a statement. In summary, they write that their drinking water is perfectly drinkable. TFA is now considered harmless and the legal requirements are met. In some cases, new filter methods are planned or being considered. More than one municipality also writes that they have only limited influence on which substances ended up in the water. Belmont-Broye maintains that assessing the danger of TFA is “exclusively the responsibility of the federal government.” Gerlafingen writes: “As a water supplier, we are at the end of a long chain and depend on dangerous substances not getting into the groundwater in the first place.” And Hochdorf demands: “Now it is important to develop strategies that prevent further TFA accumulation in drinking water. We are dependent on the support of specialists and, as a municipality, are interested in supporting the implementation of the strategies.»

There is no way around TFA. Because the laboratory commissioned by SRF also found TFA in all seven mineral waters, with values ​​between 0.08 and 0.76 µg/l (Values ​​and statements see box). This surprises the Association of Swiss Mineral Springs and Soft Drink Producers (SMS), “because natural mineral water comes from protected subterranean layers.”

Why is TFA everywhere in the water?


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Trifluoroacetate is used in many different areas. For example, TFA is the breakdown product of numerous fluorochemicals that are found in refrigerants, pesticides and medicines. TFA gets into water in different ways: Refrigerants from air conditioning systems, for example, escape into the atmosphere and are broken down there, which can result in the formation of TFA. This trifluoroacetate returns to earth with rain or snow. Pesticides, on the other hand, seep into the soil, where they break down into TFA, which ends up in groundwater. There are also factories, for example, that discharge their TFA-mixed wastewater directly into a river. Drinking water is obtained from all this water – groundwater, lake and river water as well as spring water. There are few natural sources of TFA such as deep-sea vents in the sea, which are considered by experts to be a very small proportion of TFA concentrations in water.

Henniez has the highest concentration in the measurements. Nestlé Waters, to which Henniez belongs, writes: “TFA is not on any official list as a substance of concern and is not classified as a health hazard by the Swiss authorities.” Henniez is absolutely safe and can be drunk without hesitation.

Swiss map with the source locations of the sampled mineral water.

Legend:

7 mineral water and their TFA levels

These mineral waters are among the best-selling in Switzerland. To classify the concentrations: In the case of pesticides, the authorities must check measures from a value of 0.1 µg/l. The German Federal Environment Agency recommends not to exceed 10 µg/l TFA in water, the guide value there is 60 µg/l.

SRF

This is what the mineral water manufacturers say about the TFA values


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On the radar in the EU

Trifluoroacetate is also referred to as a “forever chemical” because the substance cannot be filtered out of the water using established methods. The TFA concentrations in the water are only likely to increase in the future. The EU food authority EFSA is currently examining various substances that break down to TFA. There are concerns that TFA could harm the health of mammals, writes EFSA when asked by SRF. Germany also has a maximum value for TFA in water.

In contrast, the Swiss authorities have not yet systematically measured the environmental toxin in the water. Although the water research institute EAWAG recommended monitoring to the federal government in 2000 and TFA has been a topic in various reports since then.

What is Switzerland doing?

So far, TFA seems to have fallen between chair and bank with the Swiss authorities. The Federal Office for Food Safety FSVO, which is responsible for drinking water and pesticide approvals, mostly refers to the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, which in turn only deals with ground and surface water. In a joint statement, they write that “an initial evaluation of the pollution situation for TFA” in lakes, rivers, groundwater and precipitation is currently underway. TFA has also been measured in the air on the Jungfraujoch since 2011 and there is an obligation to report refrigerants.

When asked whether a maximum value for TFA would be indicated, the FSVO and FOEN write: “If the FOEN’s measurement campaigns show widespread elevated values ​​and this is also reflected in the drinking water catchments, the FSVO will re-evaluate the situation.”

Water supplier Roman Wiget is too slow: “The risks posed by such substances are systematically underestimated.” He and other water suppliers have been demanding for years that TFA should at least be included in the measuring program for groundwater monitoring. “It’s hard to understand,” says Wiget, “that this is still missing in Switzerland.”

Statement by FOEN and FSVO

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