Dec 12, 2023 at 9:39 PM Update: an hour ago
The sea foam along the Dutch coast contains toxic pfas. According to the RIVM, it is not clear what this means for the health of beach visitors, but measures are not (yet) necessary.
This emerged from measurements carried out by the provinces of Zeeland, North Holland and South Holland. The RIVM studied these measurements on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
“It is unclear what the concentrations of pfas in sea foam mean for the health of swimmers, surfers or beach walkers, for example,” reports the RIVM. It is also not clear how much sea foam people ingest during those activities.
The measurements in the Netherlands followed Belgian research into PFAs in sea foam. In Flanders, the pfas concentrations in the seawater samples were much lower than in the sea foam samples. This also applies to the samples of Dutch seawater.
Receive notifications for articles about climate Stay informed with notifications
Measures not (yet) necessary, but ‘don’t swallow it’
Measures are not necessary at the moment, writes outgoing Minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management) to the House of Representatives after consultation with various governments.
“Pfas occur everywhere in our environment. It therefore comes as no surprise that these substances are also found in seawater and sea foam.” Still, he recommends showering after swimming and not letting children swallow sea foam.
Pfas are chemical substances that are hardly degradable. They are associated with cancer, increased cholesterol and the risk of infertility. Recent research by the RIVM showed that a large part of the Dutch population already ingests too much pfas through food and drinking water. Therefore, additional exposure to the toxic substance is undesirable.
The RIVM is conducting a national study to get a better picture of the different pfas sources to which people are exposed.
1:33Play button
Europe wants a ban on PFAS: what are they again?
Beeld: Getty Images
Read more about:
ClimateInteriorPfas
2023-12-12 20:39:00
#Sea #foam #Dutch #coast #pfas #measures #climate
