Hans Peter Arp, an environmental chemist at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, reported data from the U.K. Environmental Agency on trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) concentrations in 50 surface water sites and 43 groundwater sites throughout the U.K. TFA, a byproduct of HFO-1234yf and other f-gases, was detected in all surface water samples with an average of 2.6mcg/L. In groundwater TFA was detected in 90% of samples, with an average of 2.8mcg/L.
The EU has established a new Water Framework Directive whereby if TFA is the only PFAS present in surface water among 25 designated PFAS, its Environmental Quality Standard would be 2.2mcg/L, met or exceeded in 45% of surface water samples and 42% of groundwater samples. Arp finds the groundwater findings “more alarming” because “when your lake becomes polluted, [groundwater] was always the Plan B.” More on this at The I Paper and Greenpeace Unearthed. A similar U.K. study was published by Fidra in 2025.
