"EU, Australia Shape Standards to Keep PFAS Off the Dinner Table"

"Preventing potentially harmful amounts of PFAS in food is a core driver of soil, sediment, and biosolids standards Australia and European countries are developing, regulatory officials said this week during a global conference.

US states setting regulatory and guideline standards for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) often take the Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisories for two of the chemicals—perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)—into account. Neither the US Food and Drug Administration nor the Department of Agriculture has set PFAS limits in food or livestock.

But regulators from the Netherlands and the UK and a Danish environmental consultant said those countries are focusing on a 2020 recommendation the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) made as they determine the safety of soil and sediments. Plants, including crops, can take up PFAS from contaminated soil and water resulting in the chemicals being in meat and milk."

Pat Rizzuto reports for Bloomberg Environment September 14, 2022.

Source: Bloomberg Environment, 09/15/2022