Everlasting, dangerous substance discovered in the river Tisza

A notorious compound was identified in a joint laboratory survey by the PET Cup and Eurofins.

PFAS compounds, also called ‘everlasting’, are widely used in industry: they are used to impregnate clothes and cookware, used in packaging and without them there would be no fire-fighting foam. Yet they are dangerous. They degrade very slowly (perhaps never) in nature and can therefore cause serious environmental problems. The independent laboratory of Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft., in its investigation supporting the PET Cup, detected perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, one of the polyfluorinated alkyl compounds, in amounts exceeding the limit value: one of the oldest of the everlasting substances was found in water.

We are often confronted with the phenomenon that mankind invents something great, only to realize decades later that it is harmful to the environment - says Zoltán Palotai, Head of the Environmental Business Unit of Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft.

These include per- and polyfluorinated alkyl compounds, whose most characteristic property (their 'superpower', if you like) is that they are both water and oil resistant. Exactly for this reason they are very widely used in everyday life: they can be found on clothing items and food packaging, in cosmetic products, and in fire-fighting foams, among other things.

Since they have been used for decades, these compounds are present in our waters, posing a serious environmental risk. The dilemma is therefore a given: we cannot live without them, but they are a threat to the ecosystem.

The reason for this is that they do not (or only with great difficulty) degrade in the environment, i.e., they are, in practice, compounds with an eternal life. The family is quite large: 5,000 members have been officially identified, but some estimates put the number as high as 10,000.

_{The compound found in the river Tisza is one of the most notorious, oldest everlasting substances. Source: Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft.}

"What we have now found in the river Tisza is one of the most notorious, previously mass-produced (and one of the oldest everlasting) compounds: perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. The key to its success is that, like thousands of its relatives, it is both polar and apolar, so it can adhere to two surfaces at the same time, making it one of the best interfacial agents in the world. It works perfectly as a fire-fighting foam, for example, because it binds to the flaming oil, cutting it off from the oxygen in the air and effectively extinguishing oil fires," explains Zoltán Palotai.

Its abundance is demonstrated by the fact that laboratory staff working on-site during sampling should not use body or face lotions, wear antistatic clothing, eat food with packaging materials, or should even keep their vehicles at a safe distance from the water, because PFAS compounds can enter the water from these sources. Should they put on a space suit? Not a good idea: even those contain these everlasting compounds.

_{Everlasting compounds are identified using state-of-the-art technology}

So what is wrong with this substance? Although the concentrations now being measured are extremely low (certainly not dangerous to humans, for example, when bathing), they pose a threat to the fragile aquatic ecosystem, especially small organisms and through them, the entire food chain.

The fact that the European Union has recognized the risk of this group of compounds is reassuring: the limit value for this compound under the regulation (EU Water Framework Directive 2008/105/EC) is 0.0044 micrograms per liter. Unfortunately, the result of 0.005 micrograms per liter measured by Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft. is higher than this, at one of the five sampling locations this everlasting substance was present in amounts exceeding the limit value.

This shows that the problem needs to be addressed at both national and European levels. It is no coincidence that the "ancient and everlasting compound" found in the water of the river Tisza will, for example, no longer be allowed in fire-fighting foams from 2025. However, it is also an undeniable fact that what we have released into the environment will remain there for a very long time.

The PET Cup is one of the most forward-looking environmental initiatives in Hungary. In addition to cleaning up the river Tisza and its tributaries from floating trash and garbage deposited in floodplain forests (mostly PET bottles, hence the name of the environmental initiative), a competition is organized and professional conferences are held every year to raise awareness of the threat to our surface waters.

Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft. (and its predecessor for 30 years, WESSLING Hungary Kft.) has already supported the competition on several occasions with various laboratory samplings and tests. For example, a few years ago it was discovered that phthalates, a dangerous group of plastic component, were also swimming in the river Tisza, and that microplastics, which are also everlasting substances posing a huge environmental challenge, had also appeared in our rivers.

We know how plastics and microplastics are released into the environment. This is also true for PFAS compounds, as one of their main sources is also garbage, which PET pirates are trying to get as much of as possible out of the river Tisza every year. In addition, the everlasting substances are also discharged into our surface waters through groundwater and wastewater, and rainwater can also leach this type of substance into our lakes and rivers, especially if there is an oil refinery, airport or other industrial facility in the area where it has been used to extinguish a fire.

By now, the measurement and analysis of perfluorinated compounds has become a priority. Everything begins with assessment and diagnostics," says Zoltán Palotai, adding that Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft. has developed analytical procedures that can be applied advantageously by combining liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, and thanks to this, the laboratory now routinely carries out these tests on water, food and packaging materials.

Alongside many other companies committed to environmental protection, our colleagues, with the support of the company but also sacrificing much of their free time, collected garbage for a week with their own team and their ingeniously constructed boat. They also took the samples which were analyzed by the staff of the laboratory.

Collaboration of the PET Cup and Eurofins

With more than 30 years of experience and millions of test results, we have already made a major effort to protect water: in addition to the accredited analysis of surface water, groundwater, soil and wastewater and our participation in reclamation projects, we have developed methods, for example, for the determination of pesticides and pharmaceutical residues in water and the measurement of microplastics in Lake Balaton and the river Danube. The current PFAS measurements are not the first time that Eurofins has supported the PET Cup, as we share a common concern for nature and the environment, which is the basis of our decade-long cooperation.