A report by the Pesticides Action Network (PAN Europe) and other NGOs that uncovered high concentrations of a forever chemical in wines from across the EU – including organic – is sparking debate about the causes of contamination and restrictions on the substance.
The report found some wines had trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) levels 100 times higher than the strictest threshold for drinking water in Europe.
TFA is part of the PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl) family of substances used in many products, including pesticides, for their water-repellent properties. Extremely persistent in the environment, they are a known threat to human health.
“This is a wake-up call,” said Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, an environmental chemist at Global 2000, one of the NGOs behind the research. “TFA is a permanent chemical and will not go away.”
The NGOs analysed 49 wines. Comparing modern wines with older vintages, the findings suggested no detectable residues in pre-1988 wines but a sharp increase since 2010.
“For no other agricultural product are the harvests from past decades so readily available and well-preserved,” the study said.
PAN sees a correlation between rising levels of TFA in wine and the growing use PFAS-based pesticides.
Under the spotlight
Though nearly a quarter of Austria’s vineyards are cultivated with the organic method, Austrian bottles are over-represented in the list of contaminated wines, 18 out of 49, as the NGOs started testing from the country before expanding the reach of the research.
[… Winemakers complain about the study, who would have thought…]
In response, the European executive’s officials passed the buck to member states, noting they resisted the Commission’s proposal to quit renewing certain PFAS pesticides. An eventual agreement was reached on just two substances.
More could be done to limit PFAS chemicals at the national level under the current EU legislation, Commission representatives said.
Source: Study finding persistent chemical in European wines raises doubts and concerns – Euractiv
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