Scientists warn over new forever acid in rain: All you need to know about it
trifluoroacetic acid
(TFA), is dividing scientists and regulators over its threat to the environment and human health. Once regarded as a minor byproduct of industrial emissions, TFA is now found everywhere—from
Arctic
ice cores to bottled water and everyday food products—raising calls for urgent action as research reveals its rapid and seemingly unstoppable accumulation.
What is TFA and why is it in our rain?
TFA is an ultra-short-chain PFAS ("
forever chemical
") notable for its extreme stability and resistance to natural
degradation
. It enters the environment from a variety of sources, including:
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Industrial discharges from chemical, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical production.
Atmospheric breakdown of widely used fluorinated gases—especially refrigerants and insulation materials.
Decomposition of other PFAS-related compounds, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and anesthetic gases.
Once in the environment, TFA does not break down and is highly mobile, traveling with water and accumulating in rain, surface water, groundwater, food crops, animal tissues, and even human urine and blood. In the last 40 years, TFA levels have increased five- to ten-fold in the leaves and needles of German trees, and rising concentrations are also documented in Arctic ice and groundwater in Denmark.
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Recent analyses in European cereals found TFA in all products tested, with conventional items showing three times higher contamination than organic products.
Is TFA harmful?
Human health risks
Current data suggest most people are exposed to levels thousands of times lower than acute toxicity thresholds in animal studies. TFA is metabolized and rapidly excreted, and does not bioaccumulate in humans as long-chain PFAS do.
Emerging evidence, including unpublished industry studies, points to toxicity at very high exposure: rats and rabbits dosed with large amounts had offspring with lower birth weights and deformities, but these doses were hundreds of thousands of times higher than what's found in drinking water.
However, recent food monitoring in Europe showed that daily TFA intake from cereal products alone could exceed tolerable limits for children, potentially posing reproductive health risks and exceeding safety thresholds used by regulators in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Environmental and ecosystem risks
TFA is extremely mobile and persistent, making it a particular threat to aquatic ecosystems where it accumulates, disrupts biodiversity, and has no known pathway for removal.
Its accumulation in soils is rising, particularly in agricultural areas, with plants absorbing large quantities that do not dissipate through transpiration, causing TFA to get "stuck" in plant tissues.
Ecotoxicity studies are limited, but several scientists warn TFA meets criteria for a "planetary boundary threat," raising the possibility it could irreversibly disrupt earth system processes if accumulation is not curbed.
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