>Why is the health value for TFA, the smallest brother of the PFAS family, more than seven times higher in Flanders than in the Netherlands and Wallonia? And does that limit happen to be just above the measured drinking water concentrations? Apache investigated how the values that should guarantee health in Flanders came about and was met with one surprise after another.
>In a spirited parliamentary debate, Flemish Minister of Environment and Agriculture Jo Brouns (CD&V) stated last month that there is nothing wrong with trifluoro vinegar (TFA) in Flanders. After all, the measured concentrations in drinking water fall neatly below the new health-based recommended value.However, the report on which the minister is based appears to have been prepared by a biologist who was in class two years ago. The method used by the Netherlands, which produces much stricter values, is served by Flanders on the basis of reports from American ‘science mercenaries’, paid by the PFAS industry. The calculation itself, used in the Flemish report, also raises serious questions.
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>Why is the health value for TFA, the smallest brother of the PFAS family, more than seven times higher in Flanders than in the Netherlands and Wallonia? And does that limit happen to be just above the measured drinking water concentrations? Apache investigated how the values that should guarantee health in Flanders came about and was met with one surprise after another.
>In a spirited parliamentary debate, Flemish Minister of Environment and Agriculture Jo Brouns (CD&V) stated last month that there is nothing wrong with trifluoro vinegar (TFA) in Flanders. After all, the measured concentrations in drinking water fall neatly below the new health-based recommended value.However, the report on which the minister is based appears to have been prepared by a biologist who was in class two years ago. The method used by the Netherlands, which produces much stricter values, is served by Flanders on the basis of reports from American ‘science mercenaries’, paid by the PFAS industry. The calculation itself, used in the Flemish report, also raises serious questions.
>Toxicological nightmare
>More than two years ago, Apache put [the hidden problem of the so-called ultra-short PFAS ](https://archive.ph/o/yfYdv/https://apache.be/2022/09/16/3m-en-indaver-vergiftigen-vlaanderen-met-ultrakorte-pfas)in Flanders on the map. TFA is now in the crosshairs. A German study previously put the [finger on the wound ](https://archive.ph/o/yfYdv/https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.1c07949)about the best-known ultra-short PFAS: “ubiquitous, ignored, difficult to remove and unregulated”.
The Flemish government and ignoring health risks to its citizens, name a more iconic duo.
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