Austria at the top

Perennial chemicals pollute our food

In absolute figures, Austria is also among the negative leaders with 25 percent - together with the Netherlands and Belgium, 27 percent each - of contaminated foodstuffs.(Bild: Jacob Lund Photography, stock.adobe.com)

Around 15 percent of the fruit and vegetables grown in the EU contain pesticide residues from the PFAS group (perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), also known as perpetuity chemicals. The proportion of these substances, which are problematic for health and the environment, in the pesticide load of consumers has almost tripled in just one decade. 

This was the result of an analysis of over 270,000 pesticide data sets. "Our findings give cause for serious concern for the environment and human health. But while EU-wide PFAS group bans have been announced for food contact materials, textiles and other consumer goods, little is known about the fact that large quantities of eternity chemicals also enter the environment and the human body as pesticides," explains Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, GLOBAL 2000 environmental chemist. 

Proportion of PFAS-contaminated fruit and vegetables tripled
Between 2011 and 2021, the proportion of PFAS-contaminated fruit and vegetables almost tripled from less than six percent to around 15 percent. Products from Austria show the strongest increase, with a seven-fold increase in fruit and a 33-fold increase in vegetables.

Strawberries, cucumbers and apples particularly contaminated
In absolute figures, Austria is also in the negative lead with 25 percent - together with the Netherlands and Belgium, 27 percent each. In Austria, domestic strawberries were the most frequently contaminated with PFAS (70 percent), followed by cucumbers (39 percent) and apples (38 percent).

Salomé Roynel, study coordinator: "If you take a closer look at the most frequently detected PFAS pesticides, the evidence for their persistence in the environment and their toxicity to humans is well documented. These include in particular risks to unborn children, brain damage, endocrine disruption and cancer

PFAS detected in breast milk
In Austrian mother-child studies, PFAS were detected in the blood serum, placenta or breast milk of all test subjects. It is particularly worrying that between 2010 and 2012, almost a third of mothers had PFAS concentrations in their blood that exceeded the current health-based guideline values.

37 perennial pesticides currently approved throughout the EU
As part of the European Green Deal, the European Union has committed to gradually banning PFAS chemicals in line with its goal of a pollutant-free environment. There are currently 37 pesticide active substances (16 percent of all approved synthetic pesticides) approved in the EU that have been classified as PFAS.