The European Environment Agency have published their five-yearly State of Europe’s Environment report, which reveals a mixed picture for environmental health across Europe.
The report finds that Europeans face continuous exposure to hazardous chemicals through contaminated water, food and consumer products, with pollution levels expected to rise despite regulatory efforts to create a toxic-free environment.
Here we cover the EEU’s findings as they relate to water and chemical pollution. Our sister publication, Air Quality News, has covered their findings on air pollution here.
Water Pollution
Europe has achieved notable success in controlling bacteria in bathing waters, but broader water pollution challenges persist, threatening both aquatic ecosystems and human health through contaminated drinking water and seafood.
In 2024, 96% of coastal and inland bathing waters in countries covered by the EU’s Bathing Water Directive met quality requirements while compliance with drinking water standards remains generally high.
78% of Europe’s groundwater area – which provides 62% of the EU’s drinking water – was in good chemical status during 2016-2021.
However, in 2021, nearly half of the EU’s surface waters failed quality standards designed to protect human health, primarily due to brominated flame retardants in fish (man-made chemicals that leach from consumer products into the environment and accumulate in the food chain, particularly in fish and shellfish).
Pollution from persistent substances, nutrients and pesticides continues to contaminate surface waters and aquatic organisms consumed by humans. Marine environments also face challenges, with 32% of assessed areas not meeting good environmental status for seafood contaminants in 2018.
Emerging pollutants including PFAS, microplastics and pharmaceuticals are identified as posing a growing threat to drinking water quality.
Climate change threatens to exacerbate these challenges. Warmer temperatures may increase pathogen growth, raising the risk of waterborne diseases, while pollutant concentrations could rise due to lower water volumes and intense rainfall washing untreated material into water sources.
The report concludes that the EU is largely not on track to meet 2030 water quality targets, suggesting that achieving good status under the Water Framework Directive by 2027 appears impossible, and the 50% reduction target for nutrient losses into groundwater by 2030 seems unlikely.
However, they add, revisions to the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive should significantly reduce pollution from 2033 onwards.
Chemical Pollution
Europeans face continuous exposure to complex mixtures of hazardous chemicals through food, water, air and consumer products, with human biomonitoring data revealing widespread contamination despite regulatory efforts to reduce chemical risks.
While regulatory measures have lowered exposure to certain substances, the volume and number of chemicals on the market continue increasing. Available data indicate European bodies are contaminated by a range of chemicals that exceed safe levels in significant portions of the population.
While emissions of persistent organic pollutants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have fallen, and modest reductions have been made in chemical pesticides and veterinary antimicrobials, the use of some highly harmful chemicals continues rising.
Of particular concern are substances like bisphenol A and PFAS, which exceed safe levels in significant portions of the European population. Legacy chemicals including heavy metals such as mercury and persistent organic pollutants like DDT, PCBs and dioxins persist in existing materials and the environment despite long-established restrictions.
The report concludes that while policies under the European Green Deal aim to increase protection, their impact will take time to materialise and depends on efficient implementation.
Chemical production and consumption are expected to increase, while knowledge gaps about toxicological effects and health impacts from combined chemical exposure further complicate matters.
The EEU do not believe that the EU is on track to meet the 2050 zero-pollution vision of a toxic-free environment, as expected increases in chemical import, production and consumption will likely continue causing impacts beyond the capacity to manage them.
The full report can be red here.