OUTPUT: Recommendations for the monitoring and assessment of PFAS

The Baltic Sea is a delicate aquatic ecosystem, which faces unique challenges due to its low water exchange rate with the Atlantic, shallow depths, and distinctive low-salinity environment. One critical threat to local ecosystems is the presence of hazardous substances. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, have come to the forefront of environmental concern in the last few decades. Despite their widespread use and considerable variations, the environmental assessment of this group is still lagging behind.

“The monitoring guidelines take a quick look at some of the open questions: which PFAS substances, which species, which tissues should be selected for the monitoring,” explains Markus Raudkivi, project coordinator at HELCOM and the main author of the recommendations. “Small scale piloting was also carried out in the project to investigate some of the gaps in current knowledge, such as the presence of newer PFAS in the matrices and potential seasonal patterns for streams and connected coastal waters.”

Currently the assessment of PFAS pollution in the Baltic Sea is based on PFOS concentrations in biota and water. However, the industry has been moving away from using the substance since its inclusion in the Stockholm convention in 2009, and many HELCOM contracting parties do already monitor a number of other PFAS in the environment. So far, concentrations of several PFAS compounds have often been summed up into different groupings, which often causes the loss of valuable information on specific substances including about their different levels of toxicity. Therefore, a good summing or categorisation approach for the different PFAS is needed in order to carry out better assessments of their impact on the Baltic Sea ecosystem. A new PFAS summing approach has been proposed by the ongoing update of the Environmental Quality Standards Directive in EU, but it has not been finalised yet.

“This output can advise national authorities connected to monitoring on upcoming changes in legislation and the effects it will have for the assessment of both inland and marine waters, biota and sediments,” Raudkivi points out.

The approach of the methodological recommendations for the monitoring and assessment of PFAS is based on the latest developments in the assessment of PFAS, it also includes an example of the assessment based on a collection of PFAS monitoring data from the Baltic Sea region from 2000-2022, collected through a data call carried out by the EMPEREST project in 2023.

Raudkivi comments further: “The sample assessment carried out by the EMPEREST project shows the state of the Baltic Sea with the new proposed PFAS thresholds, while also examining different potential parameters and scenarios that can influence the results. According to these upcoming approaches, PFAS are an even bigger issue for our region than shown before, especially concerning the concentrations present in fish not only in marine waters but also in rivers and lakes.” 

Read the Methodological recommendations for the monitoring and assessment of PFAS in the aquatic environment (PDF), developed in the EMPEREST project and published by HELCOM – Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission.

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