New PFAS limits for fish: what changes for Italy?

Let's start with the most recent data, which are those of Rintake EEB, published in September 2025 and titled “Forever chemicals poisoning Europe's waters and fish: The tip of the PFAS iceberg”PFAS data in fish collected between 2009 and 2023 in seven countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden, and the results are these: 

• Sweden: 40% of values ​​above the limit
• Austria: 40 %
• France: 32 %
• Spain: almost 25%
• Germany: 22 %
• Italy 9,3 %
• Poland: 3,3 %

But these data are all outdated if we consider the new threshold proposed by the European Commission already in 2022, and definitively approved by the European Council and the European Parliament in 2026: on the basis of this new parameter the 100 % of Italian values ​​exceeds the level  PFAS-24, equal to 77 ng/kg fresh weight, expressed as PFOA equivalents. The new PFAS-24 threshold is included in the proposal to revise the European legislation on priority substances in water, presented by the Commission in 2022. The proposal introduces a very different approach from the current one:

The current European environmental standard for fish concerns essentially PFOS and is 9,1 µg/kg , i.e. 9.100 ng/kg . The PFAS-24 proposal would instead be 7.7 ng/kg of PFOA equivalents: we are therefore talking about a value approximately 118 times lower.

After four years of negotiations, the new directive was approved by the Council and the European Parliament in March 2026, and was published on 20 April 2026, to enter into force in May of the same year: Member States, however, have until 22 December 2027 to transpose it into national legislation.

With the new regulations, Italy will have to produce a much more complete picture of PFAS contamination in its waters , rather than relying primarily on PFOS and inconsistent monitoring. This could have concrete consequences, especially in areas already known for contamination, such as Veneto and other zones most at risk from PFAS. Once the new criteria are applied, some water bodies could officially be found to be non-compliant with the new standards and require emission reduction programs.

At the moment, the situation in the areas where the percentage of fish affected by PFAS is highest is as follows:

• Veneto: This is the best-known case. In waters affected by industrial contamination, PFAS have bioaccumulated in fish; a study of 107 freshwater fish found PFOS in nearly 99% of them. The consumption of fish from the investigated area had been banned by the Veneto authorities.
• Northern Italy and the Po basin: Significant concentrations were also detected in fish from the Po, with PFOS as the predominant contaminant.
• Italian lakes: In particular, Lake Maggiore showed levels of PFOS in fish higher than the European environmental standard used to assess the risk from fish consumption, even though the study did not highlight a concrete risk for the population based on actual consumption.

• Exposure to PFAS can reduce immune responses, such as the response to vaccine antigens.
• EFSA found associations with developmental effects and, in particular, with a reduction in birth weightThis makes exposure during pregnancy and childhood development particularly important.
• Adverse effects have also been observed on cholesterol levels and on liver. However, EFSA considers the protection of the immune system sufficient to protect against these other effects when evaluating TWI.
• PFOS and PFOA are particularly problematic because they are very persistent and can accumulate in the body. Fish is one of the important dietary sources of exposure precisely because PFAS can bioaccumulate along the aquatic food chain.

 

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