The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) warns that trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a small PFAS, poses a growing risk to groundwater, surface water and drinking water. According to calculations by the Inspectorate, at least 21,000 kilograms of TFA are released each year through the use of PFAS-containing plant protection products.
According to ILT, the quantity of PFAS-containing pesticides rose from 250,000 kilograms in 2022 to 456,000 kilograms in 2024. TFA does not break down in the environment, leaches out and penetrates relatively quickly into deep groundwater. If nothing changes, its concentration there will, according to the Inspectorate, exceed the level recommended by RIVM within twenty years.
The Inspectorate states that increasing exposure to TFA is not being sufficiently controlled. Drinking water currently complies with the statutory standards, but drinking water from surface water usually contains more PFAS than the RIVM drinking-water guideline value. TFA can barely be removed from drinking water using conventional techniques; according to the Inspectorate, new techniques are complex, costly and energy-intensive.
The Inspectorate sees opportunities both in the authorisation and use of pesticides. More insight must be gained into TFA formation for all PFAS pesticides used in the Netherlands, so that products can be phased out more quickly. According to ILT, users have a duty to minimise and must reduce emissions of substances of very high concern such as TFA to zero or limit them as much as possible. According to the Inspectorate, there is uncertainty about the application of this specific duty of care to open-field cultivation.
