“A Cold Turkish for Agriculture”: The Danish Environmental Protection Agency forbids more PFAS pesticides

A rare victory for the environment over agriculture (though with 18 months to undermine the decision). From the article:

"On Tuesday, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency decided to ban eight pesticides with active substances that can be broken down to the Eternity Chemical TFA. The chemical ends up in the groundwater and is suspected of being harmful to health. Thus, a total of 33 pesticides forming TFA are banned in Denmark by November 2026. […]

TFA is largely unedited and therefore risks accumulating in larger and larger concentrations in the groundwater. At the same time, the drug is suspected of harming fetuses and the ability to have children. Amalie Timmermann is calling for more research into TFA’s adverse effects. […]

The prohibitions on the pesticides are based on a research report from December 2024that documented that six active substances in a variety of pesticides are broken down to TFA. With the decision to ban the 33 pesticides, all pesticides are based on the six active substances now phased out.

However, a number of pesticides that are suspected of forming TFA are still approved. This is because they have not been examined for it yet.

A cold turkey for agriculture

As Information has previously uncoveredthen, according to a note from the Ministry of the Environment, the use of pesticides is broken down to TFA has already resulted in TFA pollution of the groundwater. The pollution risks costing Danes billions and can threaten the drinking water supply. […]

For Jørgen E. Olesen, professor at the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, the authorities’ ban on the widely used pesticides does not come as a surprise.

“It had to come,” he says.

Jørgen E. Olesen explains, That the prohibitions place agriculture “a really stupid place”. For the pesticides, widespread is used for weed control, pest control and disease control in crops. Now agriculture must find other methods of fighting or preventing adverse effects.

“That’s why this is a bit of a paradigm shift – and a cold turkey – for agriculture,” says Jørgen E. Olesen.

Other methods than to spray

However, he believes that Danish agriculture is better dressed to handle the TFA ban than would be in other European countries where you have a higher dependence on pesticides. But the ban means that Danish agriculture must now rethink its production.

“You have to find other methods and principles where you do not solve the problems of spraying. One must try to prevent a much greater extent. It’s harder, more complicated and often not so effective, but it’s reality, ”he says.

Although the ban on the TFA-forming pesticides was expected, Danish agriculture has not prepared in time, the professor believes.

“Agriculture has been expected that even if you come and say that ‘now you have to reduce your nitrogen leaching’, ‘Now you have to stop using pesticides’, it has so far been something you have said they should, but it has never really been trembled. And why should farmers respond before it is through? ”