Forever chemical increases sharply in Swiss water bodies

The pollution of Swiss waters with a 'forever chemical' has increased massively over the last 25 years. A new study shows that concentrations of trifluoroacetate (TFA) have increased four- to six-fold since the mid-1990s. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the University of Bern expect a further increase in the coming years. This was announced by Empa on Tuesday. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox What this means for humans and the environment has not yet been conclusively clarified, according to Empa. Although the health effects of TFA have hardly been researched to date, individual studies indicate possible long-term toxic effects. In view of the increase in this chemical, the researchers are urging caution. "We should therefore act according to the precautionary principle and limit the use of precursors as much as possible," Empa researcher Stefan ...