The aim of our project is to survey trifluoracetate (TFA) concentrations in surface waters in the Vienna Basin for the first time in Austria and to investigate the impact of TFA on plants. Thus, it should be shown that secondary pollutants also have an environmental relevance and should be included in monitoring programmes due to their accumulation in the environment. This study is also intended to substantiate the need for increased legal regulation of secondary pollutants as TFA. Research on TFA in Austria as well as the survey of TFA- concentrations in groundwater have not yet been conducted. Thus, this scientific view of ours should be an input for the start of further research on the topic of TFA in Austria and in the EU, its future and possible threat to important goods.