Less than two per cent of PFAS emissions can be removed
A new peer-reviewed study shows that even highly costly treatment can remove only a vanishingly small share of Europe's PFAS pollution.
NGI researcher Hans Peter Arp and lead author Alison L. Ling of the University of St. Thomas are among the authors of the new study, which shows that even highly costly remediation removes less than two per cent of PFAS emissions. ( Photo: NGI)
NGI researcher Hans Peter Arp is one of the authors, working alongside scientists and investigative journalists from several countries. Their conclusion is unambiguous: to deal with PFAS, the pollution must be stopped at source rather than cleaned up after the fact.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are often called “forever chemicals.” They are extremely durable and turn up in everything from industrial processes to consumer goods. Those same properties make them nearly impossible to break down or remove once released into the environment.
"We cannot remove PFAS from trees, lakes and our cereals. The world is becoming increasingly polluted with diffuse PFAS pollution that will forever change the chemistry of the planet and can never be remediated," says Arp.
The first comprehensive estimate
The study, published in the journal “Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts”, provides the first comprehensive estimate of how much PFAS can realistically be removed from the environment. The researchers modelled large-scale remediation of soil, landfills, wastewater, and drinking water in the European Union, and accounted for the practical limits of today’s treatment technology. The work is part of the award-winning Forever Pollution Project, with Alison L. Ling at the University of St. Thomas being the lead author for this latest study.
Up to €200 billion a year
The arithmetic is sobering. Cleaning up legacy PFAS pollution, assuming emissions had stopped, would cost between €1.1 and €6 billion a year. Addressing the current situation, with ongoing and rising emissions of PFAS that are far harder to remove, would cost between €52 and €200 billion a year. Even so, the most aggressive measures would remove less than two percent of the PFAS being emitted today.
“The implication that less than 2% of current PFAS emissions can be remediated may seem surprising at first, but when you see the increasing amounts of PFAS, particularly TFA, accumulating in forests, groundwater, grasslands, food-supply systems, ecosystems, and even in our own blood, it makes sense,” says Arp.
TFA, or trifluoroacetic acid, is one of the so-called ultra-short chain PFAS. These compounds are particularly difficult to remove and are increasingly widespread, representing an extreme case of environmental accumulation.
Illustration photo: Water sampling in the field. PFAS cannot realistically be removed from the environment ( Photo: USGS)
Prevention rather than clean-up
The authors argue that the money should be spent differently. The study suggests that investing around €50 billion a year in prevention, innovation, and emission reduction could be economically justified when set against health-related costs of €52 to €84 billion a year and remediation costs of €52 to €200 billion. The researchers point to the polluter-pays principle and extended producer responsibility, and call for funds to be directed toward safer alternatives and the redesign of industrial processes.
“Clean-ups make sense where they meaningfully reduce exposures and health risks, but even unprecedented spending on remediation could not significantly reduce the amount of PFAS already in the environment,” says lead author Alison L. Ling.
This press release has been adapted for NGI from a joint press release connected to the study, which is published on 6 July 2026. The study is part of the Forever Pollution Project, a collaboration between journalists and researchers in which Le Monde is one of the partners.
