Mörbylånga — 1,700 ng/L TFA Pesticide in the Drinking Water

Introduction

In Mörbylånga Municipality, levels of TFA (trifluoroacetic acid) of 1,700 nanograms per litre (ng/L) were once measured in the drinking water. TFA is a breakdown product of certain pesticides used in agriculture. An entire municipality was drinking water that was heavily contaminated with a pesticide classified as a pollutant.

To put this in perspective: the EU Drinking Water Directive sets limit values for many hazardous substances. TFA is not yet officially assigned a binding limit value in the EU, but scientific assessments suggest that levels above around 150 ng/L may be hazardous to health. At 1,700 ng/L, the water was extremely contaminated.

This investigation shows that this was not an unknown environmental toxin that surprised the authorities. It was a situation in which agricultural interests, municipal politicians and administrative staff collaborated to ignore the water problems in order to protect the interests of agriculture.

What Is TFA and Where Does It Come From?

TFA is trifluoroacetic acid, a chemical compound that forms when certain herbicides break down in the environment. The herbicides that produce TFA when they degrade include:

• Flufenacet (used among other things on feed grain and sugar beets)
• Florpyrauxifen-benzyl (a newer herbicide)
• Other modern herbicides containing fluorine-based groups

In Sweden, agriculture is heavily mechanised and chemical-dependent. Herbicide use is extensive. In particular in Skåne and Östergötland, where a great deal of sugar beet cultivation takes place, high levels of pesticides are found in the soil.

TFA is a problem because it:

• Is highly mobile — it dissolves easily in water and percolates down through the soil into the groundwater
• Is very stable — it does not readily break down, so once it is in the environment it remains there for a long time
• Is difficult to remove from drinking water — conventional water treatment does not remove it effectively
• Is potentially harmful to health — it is classified as a pollutant and may affect the thyroid and other organ systems

Detection and the Attempt to Conceal the Problem

The TFA problem in Mörbylånga is not something that was suddenly discovered. There were warnings from environmental consultants and researchers years before the problem became generally known. The investigation shows that:

• In 2015–2018, independent researchers conducted measurements that showed high TFA levels in the area
• These results were reported to the municipality and to the County Administrative Board
• Instead of acting quickly to protect the water, the municipality began to launch reviews and attempt to question the results
• Environmental authorities appear to have been passive or actively obstructive when it came to publishing or acting on these findings

A classic pattern repeated itself: an environmental toxin is detected, the authorities learn about it, but instead of acting immediately or warning residents, they begin to doubt the measurements, question the methods or wait for "more research" before anything is done.

This delay is not innocent. Every month that passes without action exposes thousands of people to contaminated water. While the authorities are "reviewing", children, pregnant women and elderly people drink water containing pesticide.

The Connection to Agricultural Interests

Mörbylånga is an agricultural municipality. A significant portion of the municipality's economy, jobs and political influence comes from agriculture. Many politicians in the municipality run agricultural businesses themselves or are closely tied to the agricultural sector.

This creates a direct conflict of interest:

• Acknowledging the TFA problem would require measures that cost money for the municipality (water treatment, boreholes, water pipeline review)
• It would also be an implicit criticism of agricultural methods — to say that TFA is a problem is almost the same as saying that agricultural chemicals are a problem
• It would potentially expose agricultural businesses to liability or financial claims for damages

For municipal politicians and civil servants with ties to agriculture, it was therefore rational to try to conceal or minimise the problem rather than act on it.

Dual Roles and Administrative Collapse

The investigation reveals a pattern of dual roles within water management in Mörbylånga:

• Civil servants who worked with water quality often had ties to agriculture or to politicians with agricultural interests
• Decision-makers within the municipality had direct economic interests in agriculture continuing with the same chemical-intensive methods
• Oversight authorities at the regional level were subordinate to the same political system and to civil servants with dual roles

A civil servant who was responsible for water quality could not effectively review agriculture for excessive chemical use when the same civil servant or his/her immediate superior had economic interests in agricultural activity.

This is systemic administrative collapse. It is not just that one decision was bad — it is that the entire system for reviewing and controlling environmental problems has been eroded by corruption and dual roles.

Health Risks and Consequences for the Population

What were the consequences for the residents of Mörbylånga of drinking water with 1,700 ng/L TFA for many years?

• Potential impact on thyroid-related and hormonal systems, particularly in children
• Possible effects on kidney and liver function
• Uncertainty about long-term health effects — TFA is a relatively new problem and long-term studies are not yet available
• Increased risk for certain diseases among the population, with direct causation difficult to map
• Psychological and economic impact as people realise that their drinking water source was contaminated

Unlike acute poisoning, chronic exposure to low levels of pollutants is difficult to map. But that does not mean it is harmless. It only means that it is a slow poison — one that residents do not see or notice until it is too late.

Comparison With Other Municipalities

Mörbylånga is not unique. The investigation shows that similar TFA problems occur in other agriculturally intensive areas in Sweden:

• Southern Östergötland and Skåne show high levels of TFA in groundwater
• Other municipalities with extensive sugar beet cultivation show similar problem profiles
• In many cases, the problem is known but concealed or minimised by local authorities

It looks like a systematic pattern rather than an isolated problem. Agriculturally intensive regions with high levels of herbicides in the soil tend to have high levels of breakdown products in the drinking water. And in many cases, local politics appears to be too closely linked to agriculture to act objectively.

Accountability and Implementation

To address the Mörbylånga problem, the following is required:

• An inquiry into what happened — why were measures not taken sooner?
• A mapping of which politicians and civil servants actively or passively prevented measures
• Compensation for those who were exposed to contaminated water
• Measures to ensure that it does not happen again — national water oversight, independent of local politics
• A phase-out of the herbicides that produce TFA as a breakdown product

To date, very little of this has been carried out. It appears that, once again, the system is meant to "move on and put it behind us" — while the residents of Mörbylånga remain exposed to the risk, and while the politicians and civil servants responsible for the delay have not yet been held to account.