Key messages

• By targeting children aged 6–11 across several European countries, the project provides crucial insights into PFAS ↗ exposure during a sensitive developmental stage for which data is lacking.
• The use of aligned protocols and tools from the PARC Aligned Studies ensures data comparability and reliability across participating countries.
• The use of innovative techniques, such as non-target screening, will enable the identification of emerging PFAS compounds that are not detected by traditional targeted studies. This approach allows for a more comprehensive assessment of PFAS exposure and helps to identify previously unmonitored or unknown substances.

Overview

Although PFAS are widely used and persistent in the environment and human body, existing biomonitoring data for children are very limited. This project addresses a regulatory gap by generating harmonised, EU-wide data on PFAS exposure in children, a vulnerable and underrepresented group in human biomonitoring. This project extends its scope to children aged 6–11, using aligned protocols and tools developed within the PARC Aligned Studies. Seven countries will participate, covering regions in Northern, Western and Southern Europe.

The project responds directly to the European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability ↗ (CSS), which calls for the phase-out of PFAS use, and supports PARC priorities. By collecting and analysing serum samples, we aim to:

• characterise current PFAS exposure levels in children,
• establish internal exposure reference values,
• identify key determinants such as diet, socio-demographics, and indoor environment.

If health-based guidance values are available, comparisons will estimate the proportion of children at potential health risk. Links to environmental datasets and external studies may be explored to identify exposure sources.

This work will provide timely and policy-relevant data to inform national and EU regulatory measures on PFAS, including ongoing REACH ↗ restriction processes. Results will directly support evidence-based risk assessment and regulatory action, contributing to enhanced protection of children’s health and aligning with long-term EU policy goals.

Achievements & Results

At this point, a kick-off meeting of the project was held in Brussels on the 28 May 2025. Partners have started to collect blood samples from the selected children.

The first collected data will be available to share at the end of 2026.

Policy relevance

• By providing the first European HBM ↗ data allowing the description of PFAS exposure among young children, the project will set a baseline that will allow evaluation of new future regulation and further optimisations in time.
• The non-targeting experimental approach could bring some knowledge about new compounds actually not monitored by targeted screening and could help to enlarge the spectrum of further targeted PFAS compounds to be include under new regulation.
• The comparison of collected exposure data with a HBM-GV, if available, will supply a relevant information contributing to health risk assessment process.
• Collected individual data might be used to help deriving a new HBM guidance value specific for children by European agencies or national risk assessment agencies.
• This project will provide individual HBM data (accessible via IPChem to multiple authorities overseeing respective legislation such as EFSA ↗, EEA ↗, ECHA ↗ and EMA ↗ at EU level or national health authorities) that could contribute to develop new regulation and help democratising this process to further elaborate and evaluate new public policies in Europe.
• Results of the project can directly support the PFAS restriction under REACH by providing critical evidence to refine threshold values, prioritize high-risk uses for restriction.
• Data on children’s exposure could help identify priority PFAS substances for restriction under the POP regulation, ensuring alignment with its goals and effectiveness of this regulation.
• This project will also support the European CSS, which emphasizes the importance of protecting vulnerable population groups, such as children, from exposure to groups of chemicals with known hazardous properties.