Nutrition center warns that eggs sold by private individuals could contain too much PFAS

Eggs sold by hobbyist chicken farmers could contain PFAS levels that are so high that eating them often for an extended period could cause a risk to that person's health, the Dutch nutrition organization, Voedingcentrum, wrote on Wednesday. The center said eggs from supermarkets, specialty stores, or markets remained the "safest choices." They added that "no high values of PFAS were found in eggs from these places."

The Voedingcentrum advised people who do choose to eat eggs from their own chickens to alternate between this and eggs bought from stores.

PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. There are thousands of chemicals that fall under this category. It has been proven that some of these chemicals can cause cancer. Aside from being carcinogenic, they can also damage the immune system, the reproductive system, and the development of unborn babies.

On average, Dutch people are exposed to higher concentrations of PFAS through food and water than what the RIVM, the national health institute, believes to be a safe amount. The RIVM will conduct further research into PFAS pollution of the eggs from hobbyist farmers' chickens.

It is unknown how the chemical material finds its way into the eggs. "Sadly, you cannot see if an egg contains too much PFAS. This is one of the reasons why it is hard to give general advice."

There is a risk assessment based on the advice from the Voedingcentrum. This has been put together by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) and the Bureau for Risk Assessment (BuRO).

The bureau based this on data from earlier research, one of which was a study from 2016. It was clear from then that the eggs from private individuals' chickens contain PFAS concentrations that exceed the health limit value. Exposure up to that limit is considered safe.

The NVWA does not usually monitor eggs from hobbyist farmer chickens. The institution became involved after a report from NRC where the newspaper had the Vrije Universiteit study eggs from chickens located near the Chemours chemical factory in Dordrecht.

The results were that there were high levels of PFAS in the eggs. Research from broadcaster NOS later proved that eggs found in other parts of the country also contained levels of PFAS that were too high.