Eliminating hazardous substances requires everyone’s effort

On 27–29 August 2025, the eighth Europe Forum in Turku, Finland, drew a record crowd of 1 200 to Turku City Theatre. There were an additional 1 000 listeners at the public event in the city centre, and the live broadcasts drew an audience of 13 200. This year, the forum was a celebration of Finland’s 30th anniversary in the European Union. The overall theme “The world is changing – how will Europe respond?” was an umbrella for four sub-topics, namely economy, security, Finland’s role in the EU, and sustainability. Europe Forum aims at promoting open, science-based dialogue and societal debate on the future of Europe. It has also become a kick-off event of the autumn term in politics: most Finnish decision-makers from national and European level are there to partake in discussions with non-governmental organisations, business sector, labour market organisations, authorities and experts, including international guests.

EMPEREST project organized a panel discussion at the forum, in collaboration with the NonHazCity3 project. The objective of the panel was to explore how the harmful effects of hazardous substances on nature, people, and the circular economy can be minimized. Researcher Piia Leskinen from the Turku University of Applied Sciences moderated the discussion of four panelists: Pauli Aalto-Setälä, Member of the Finnish Parliament; Lotta Ruokanen, Professional Secretary at HELCOM; Petri Tuominen, CEO of Jyväskylä Region wastewater treatment plant; and Laura Walin, Head of Unit of Environmental Protection at the City of Helsinki. The variety of sectors the speakers represented – research, policy-making, intergovernmental authority, wastewater treatment and local authority – built a multifaceted approach to the problem and its solutions.

To start with, the speakers agreed that the situation is challenging. In her introduction, Piia Leskinen explained how toxic chemicals end up circulating in the environment, including our food production chains. Piia Leskinen mentioned that in the EMPEREST project, her research team has found out that 67 stormwater and surface water samples out of 70 in Turku region contained PFAS compounds that were banned already in 2009. While the concentrations vary, she noted that exceeding safe levels of such substances can pose health risks. These may include increasing the likelihood of certain diseases e.g. cancer, affecting hormone balance, or influencing how well vaccines work in children. Lotta Ruokanen highlighted the findings of HELCOM’s latest holistic assessment report which identifies hazardous substances as an even more serious threat to the Baltic Sea ecosystem than eutrophication. At present, HELCOM is specifically monitoring the concentrations of 55 hazardous substances, such as PFAS, PCBs or lead, in the Baltic Sea and its catchment area. Pauli Aalto-Setälä, who is also a member of the Environment Committee in the Finnish Parliament, called the Baltic Sea ‘multi-morbid’ and called for stronger cross-sectoral and multi-level cooperation.

Legislation is one of the key solutions to the problem of toxic chemicals. The regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) is the main EU law on harmful chemicals. However, as new chemicals are developed all the time, the REACH regulation is not necessarily sufficient. Another law mentioned in the panel was the update of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) which sets new requirements for the removal of hazardous substances from wastewater. Further, the revision of the Environmental Quality Standard Directive was mentioned by the panelists as an important regulation update. The EU legislation however needs effective national implementation and monitoring of the effects. Lotta Ruokanen mentioned the importance of the EMPEREST technology pilots at WWTPs in the implementation of the updated UWWTD. Legislation also needs to adapt to the continuous and rapid evolution of the chemical industry.

Lotta Ruokanen, Professional Secretary and Deputy Executive Secretary of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission HELCOM stressed that since hazardous chemicals are everywhere, also the possibilities of eliminating them are everywhere. Each wise choice individuals and organisations make can reduce the amount of hazardous substances. Photo: Linda Svarfvar

The removal of harmful chemicals released in the environment is possible at the wastewater treatment plant. Petri Tuominen mentioned that the requirements of the updated UWWTD are well justified and also financially reasonable for the public sector if the polluters, i.e. especially cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, take part in the costs according to the extended producer responsibility principle. The upcoming investments in activated carbon technologies, for example, will enable the removal of many hazardous substances from wastewater. However, the effective circular process of the WWTPs also needs adjustments – how can we safely reuse sludge in the future if it contains more and more harmful chemicals? Adopting incineration and pyrolysis all over Europe would not be the most climate-friendly choice.

Many of the speakers underlined prevention measures and especially the responsibility of the markets in the elimination of hazardous substances. EU legislation does not apply to products imported to Europe from other continents – this is why the influx of cheap products containing harmful chemicals from online marketplaces needs to be addressed. Further, even within the EU, consumers should be more aware about the chemicals different products contain. Finding out if your frying pan contains PFAS or not may be complicated but selecting products with an eco-label is an effective first step when making buying decisions.

Cities have a lot of power to influence the market. Laura Walin pointed out that as the biggest public buyer in Finland, the City of Helsinki wants to include chemicals as a criterion to their procurement assessments. The city of Helsinki also has Green Deal agreements with the Ministry of the Environment enhancing the elimination of harmful chemicals. The aim is to provide healthier spaces for the inhabitants e.g. in daycare or any municipal buildings but also to push the market towards more ambitious choices in their production. Indeed, Pauli Aalto-Setälä underlined that environmental sustainability must become an even stronger competitive advantage – legislation can be used to advocate such market transition.

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