A new European study provides further evidence of widespread human exposure to PFAS – including unexpectedly high levels of the ultrashort-chain PFAS trifluoroacetic acid (TFA).
The study, “PFAS levels in Europeans – An exploratory study,” was commissioned by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament and carried out by researchers at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Blood samples from 110 volunteers from nine European countries were analyzed for four long-chain PFAS – PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS and PFNA – as well as five ultrashort-chain PFAS.
PFAS detected in everyone
All 110 participants had the four long-chain PFAS in their blood serum. Particularly concerning, the combined concentration of these four substances exceeded the serum threshold derived from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) health-based guidance value in 27 participants – one in four people tested. The researchers note that at these levels, health effects cannot be excluded.
The study also highlights TFA, an ultrashort-chain PFAS increasingly found throughout the environment. TFA was detected in every single blood sample.
Even more strikingly, the median TFA concentration was about 4.6 times higher than the combined concentration of the four long-chain PFAS: 21.2 ng/mL compared with 4.6 ng/mL. TFA accounted for around 81% of the total mass of the PFAS detected in the study, and the authors report that the median TFA concentrations were the highest yet reported in humans.
A major knowledge gap around TFA
These findings are especially important because human biomonitoring and health-risk assessment have traditionally focused on better-known long-chain PFAS such as PFOS and PFOA.
There is currently no serum-based health guidance value for TFA, meaning that the measured blood concentrations cannot yet be directly assessed against a health-based threshold. At the same time, concern about TFA is increasing. The report notes that the European Chemicals Agency’s Risk Assessment Committee has recommended classification of TFA as a Category 1B reproductive toxicant, while EFSA in July 2026 lowered its acceptable daily intake for TFA to 0.014 mg/kg body weight per day.
The study therefore highlights an important blind spot: while attention has focused on legacy PFAS, exposure to highly mobile, ultrashort-chain PFAS and PFAS degradation products such as TFA may be substantial.
The findings strengthen the case for action on PFAS as a group
The study is exploratory and relatively small, and the authors explicitly caution against drawing conclusions about differences between individual European countries or the European population as a whole. Nevertheless, the results add to the evidence that PFAS exposure is widespread and that monitoring only a limited number of well-known PFAS provides an incomplete picture of human exposure.
For HEJSupport, the findings reinforce the importance of addressing PFAS as a group, rather than replacing regulated PFAS with shorter-chain alternatives that can create new environmental and health concerns.
They also underline the need to:
- reduce PFAS emissions and human exposure at source;
- include ultrashort-chain PFAS such as TFA in human biomonitoring programmes;
- close data gaps on their toxicity and exposure pathways;
- ensure greater transparency about PFAS in products, materials and supply chains; and
- advance comprehensive regulation that prevents regrettable substitution from one PFAS to another.
The new results send a clear warning: reducing exposure to well-known legacy PFAS is not enough. Chemical policy and monitoring need to keep pace with the full spectrum of PFAS to which people and the environment are exposed.
Read the full report:
PFAS levels in Europeans – An exploratory study, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, commissioned by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, September 2026.
