The Netherlands hold the US company 3M liable for damage allegedly caused by a Belgian chemical plant in Zwijndrecht near Antwerp. There, 3M discharged chemical waste into the river Schelde, some of which continues to flow into the Netherlands, where the Schelde flows into the Hollands Diep.
Mark Habers, Dutch Minister for Infrastructure and Water Management, has officially written to 3M. Habers says: “There is too much PFAS in the Westerschelde. This causes concern among local residents, but also financial damage, for example for fishermen and the Rijkswaterstaat [Anm. d. Red.: Behörde, die für die niederländischen Wasserwege verantwortlich ist]. In my opinion, the polluters should pay, not the users and administrators. Holding 3M liable is consistent with that premise.”
The iconic 3M company logo.
(Bild: 3M)
Forever Chemicals
PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in Germany this group of thousands of chemicals is also called PFC (per- and polyfluorinated chemicals). They are nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they are hardly degradable due to their water, grease and dirt-repellent, fire-retardant, extremely stable and therefore very resistant properties.
They accumulate in the blood and in the organs of humans and are suspected of weakening the immune system and causing cancer. They primarily damage the liver and thyroid. PFCs are used in lubricants, in many coated pans and in etching processes in chip production.
In 2022, 3M had to partially stop its production in Zwijndrecht on orders from the Belgian government. In the summer, an agreement was reached on compensation payments of 571 million euros – since then production has been resumed subject to conditions. At the end of 2022, 3M announced that it only wanted to manufacture PFCs until the end of 2025.
High concentration in drinking water
In autumn 2022, the Dutch authority for public health and the environment (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu, RIVM) warned of high PFC concentrations in drinking water. This applies primarily to drinking water obtained from rivers: more than half of the samples exceeded the self-imposed limit, but an excessively high value was also discovered in every tenth drinking sample from groundwater.
The RIVM has set a total limit of 4.4 nanograms per liter for the four chemicals perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS). With a 20 percent share, it is based on the weekly limit value of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is 4.4 nanograms per kilogram of body weight, and is based on a 70 kg person who drinks 2 liters per day. The RIVM leaves the remaining 80 percent “cushion” for other recording sources such as food.
The amount of the four PFCs found in surface water was an average of 12.6 nanograms per liter. Only individual values from 0.5 ng/l were included. The average value for drinking water from groundwater was 10.8 ng/l. Up to 16 other eternity chemicals were detected, but were not included in the overview.
Along with the drinking water warning, the authority recommended not to distort the fish you caught yourself.
(mma)
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