Briefing note n°2 on the PFAS Report
The report “Analyse des risques de présence de per- et polyfluoroalkyles (PFAS) dans l’environnement” (“Risk Analysis for the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyles (PFAS) in the environment”) (1) was finally published on April 14, 2023 and said that the subject of potentially concerned pesticides is very poorly documented “which would justify arranging a survey of manufacturers”. Robin des Bois has already noted that the ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) in its document covering the restrictions on the use of PFAS (2) and in particular in its Annex (3) cites in the Biocides and Pesticides categories 49 active substances approved by the European Union and covered by the current definition of PFAS (listed below). For pesticides, the ECHA estimates that 5,479 tonnes of PFAS are used each year in the European Union. The prohibition of PFAS in pesticides would remove 200 products from the market, which is not currently advised by the ECHA.
“Frog Fair” in Vittel: Fast Food, Fast Extinction
Biodiversity damage and animal suffering on the menu of the largest frogs’ legs meal in the world
Paris / Munich / April 17, 2023 – During the “Frog Fair” in Vittel in the Vosges region of France, which will take place this year on 22 and 23 April, about seven tonnes of frog legs are consumed in just two days by some 20,000 visitors. “For this event alone, up to 350,000 frogs are caught, especially in Indonesia and Turkey, where frog populations are already in alarming decline,” reports Charlotte Nithart of the French organisation Robin des Bois. And Dr Sandra Altherr from the German organisation Pro Wildlife adds: “Do the visitors know that for their snacks, frogs are amputated alive on the other side of the world?”
