Food & Feed analyses

The overall knowledge on the levels present in different foodstuffs is still limited. Most of the old data is of less use because of high reporting limits (LOQ) compared to what is needed to correlate with TWI. There is a risk of high levels in foodstuffs due to local “hot spot” contamination, but also a lower “background” levels in much of the produce due to diffuse contamination everywhere in the environment. Given the widespread use, not at least of new “novel” PFAS, levels in some foods and thus the risk of exposure may increase for a long time.

There is a number of possible causes of contamination in food. One major source can be irrigation with contaminated water e.g. downstream from hotspots. This can cause elevated levels in milk or meat from cows (or other animals) drinking from the same water. The Korsør case in DK is one example of this. Fish and shellfish from these contaminated waters are another example together with contaminated silage, grass or other feed from the same sites. Another potential source that has been highlighted in e.g. the US recently, is crops grown on sludge-fertilized fields which is used as food or feed.

In this context it should also be highlighted that food can be contaminated from packaging material, but also other material in contact with the food. The use of PFAS, the compounds allowed and migration is restricted for FCM plastics in Regulation (EU) 10/2011. For paper/board there is no common EU regulation but since 2020 there is a ban for all PFAS in DK and SE is expected to follow. There are also national legislations and recommendations e.g. in NL and DE. A recent report from the Swedish Chemical Agency (KEMI 5/21) demonstrated the presence of PFAS in a number of paper and board packages/wrappings.