PFAS
Toxins found on the Danish North Sea coast – authorities advise caution
As a precaution, you should not touch the spray on the North Sea coast in Denmark. Elevated PFAS levels were found.
© Michael Narten/ / Picture Alliance
Authorities have discovered perfluorinated alkyl substances, PFAS for short, along the Danish North Sea coast. Local authorities warn against coming into contact with sea spray as the substance is suspected of being carcinogenic.
If you are going on vacation on the Danish North Sea coast in the near future, you should be careful when walking on the beach. Especially on the approximately 32-kilometer stretch of coast between Thyborøn and Bøvling Klit near Thorsminde. There were after Information from the municipality of Lemvig Fluorine found. More specifically, elevated levels of PFAS, short for perfluorinated alkyl substances.
The municipality and the authority for patient safety in Denmark do not consider that there is a health risk when bathing. The PFAS concentration in the sand is also below the limit values.
Swimming and playing in the sand is safe
However, as a precaution, the Patient Safety Authority advises against “direct contact with sea spray lying on the beach, such as after a storm.” If you have come into contact with the poisonous spray, you should wash the affected area thoroughly.
“We have carried out thorough mapping of the entire area. There are many indications that the PFAS source is to be found in the North Sea,” says Claus Borg, Director of Technology and Environment for Lemvig Municipality. Borg emphasizes that swimming in the sea and playing on the beach do not pose a health risk despite the PFAS detection.
The other recommendations not to eat game from Harboøre Tange and fishing and bathing bans in Thyborøn Fjord and Harboøre Fjord still apply. The environmental agency now wants to examine the PFAS concentrations at 50 other locations.
PFAS are persistent and often toxic
PFAS are a group of industrial chemicals, explains the Austrian Federal Environment Agency. They are used both in industry and in the home. The disadvantage of PFAS is that they are stable and durable and therefore difficult to degrade. Many PFAS are toxic and remain in the human body for a long time after ingestion. Toxic, carcinogenic and reprotoxic properties were found in animal experiments.
Humans ingest PFAS mainly through food. Babies can also absorb these substances through the placenta and breast milk. According to the Federal Environment Agency, a risk assessment by EFSA from 2018 came to the conclusion “that a considerable part of the European population is exposed to concentrations of the perfluorinated alkyl compounds PFOS and PFOA through the food chain that are up to 25 times higher than the weekly tolerable intake dose lie”. An increase in cholesterol levels and the impairment of the immune system in children were observed effects. Exposure to these substances could also be confirmed in Austrian studies.