The seawater on the Netherlands coast is being studied for the presence of a type of chemical, PFAS, which is common in everyday products in Europe and abroad. The chemicals are very difficult to remove from the environment and are connected to a number of health issues.
Official Dutch sources have said that seafoam and seawater in coastal regions of the Netherlands have a high concentration of Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS). They have also recommended that people, particularly children, refrain from being in contact with seafoam for very long.
The main health body of the Netherlands, RIVM, announced on Tuesday that they are going to perform a national study on the presence in Dutch coastal waters. The study will provide more insight into the exact level of concentration in the water and health risks.
From the store to the seawater
PFAS are a known kind of pollutant and are present “all over the Flemish region” in the Netherlands, as well as Belgium, as per a report by the Council of the European Union. In July, RIVM confirmed that Dutch people on average consumed PFAS above the recommended level, mainly via food. Now this may be extended to contact with seawater.
Exposure to PFAS has only increased in the Netherlands. The chemical is used to make coatings to resist “heat, oil, stains, grease, and water,” according to the CDC. They are used in day-to-day products “throughout society,” as per the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). Examples are cleaning products, water-resistant clothing and cookware.
Because PFAS are transported very easily and take thousands of years to degrade, they have made their way into the Dutch water supply and food chain. ECHA stated that PFAS “contain carbon-fluorine bonds, which are one of the strongest chemical bonds in organic chemistry,” making them hard to remove from the environment. They are commonly referred to as “forever” chemicals.
Environmental impact and health issues
PFAS have a tendency to remain for a long time once ingested, and exposure is increasingly common in the European Union (EU) and the United States, and the former may take regulatory action. In February of this year, ECHA drafted an EU-wide initiative to ban PFAS from the environment, to take effect in 2025. However, the EU has not released information on it since then.
In Belgium, the Flemish government released a report with a list of recommendations to safely dispose of PFAS late last year. In Japan, Kakamigahara City, a small city in the south of the country, announced the construction of a new purification facility due to contamination of the water supply with PFAS.
Certain PFAS have been linked with a plethora of health issues. According to a study in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, “only a handful of PFAS” have been conclusively connected with health issues, and that more research is needed. It also says that PFAS are capable of producing a wide range of health effects, depending on two factors: circumstances of exposure and factors about the individuals exposed.
Effects studied include cancer, reproductive problems and thyroid issues, among other effects. These are conditional to individual people and conditions of exposure, and may vary.
