Significant amounts of the toxic and carcinogenic substance PFOS have been found among several citizens in Korsør Municipality. It informs Radio4.
The findings so far are the results from the occupational and social medicine department at Holbæk Hospital, which is currently in the process of contacting a total of 187 citizens from the Korsør area.
They have all eaten meat from the calves that have grazed on a contaminated field near the local fire school, where PFOS until 2011 was used in the extinguishing foam.
So far, just over three out of four of the affected citizens have received answers to their blood test.
According to figures obtained by Radio4 from Holbæk Hospital, several of the blood samples show up to 600 nanograms of PFOS per milliliter of blood. The normal value is 21.2 nanograms of PFOS per milliliter of blood.
And that is a worrying number, points out Lisbeth E. Knudsen to Radio4. She is a professor of toxicology at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.
– PFOS is a very degradable substance, so it is worrying to hear about those with such high values. We know from other studies that values so high can contribute to influencing the liver in a negative direction, she tells Radio4.
Lisbeth E. Knudsen therefore believes that the citizens who have a high concentration of PFOS in the body must be aware of the body’s woe and well for several decades to come.
– They must make sure to avoid PFOS from other sources. Drink clean water and eat a clean diet, she tells Radio4.
The fluorinated substance PFOS is derived from fire foam used at the fire drill site in Korsør. Via the rainwater, it has ended up in the grass in a field where cows from Korsør Kogræsserforening have been poisoned.
PFOS has been identified as a so-called priority hazardous substance in the EU Water Framework Directive because it is, among other things, carcinogenic.
Source: The Nordic Page