Groups demand ban on PFAS after report shows substances in every Dutch person's blood

Several nature organizations are once again pushing for a ban on the use of PFAS in products after the report published by the RIVM on Thursday. The report shows that all Dutch people have PFAS in their blood, usually at levels that are too high. Sijas Akkerman, director of the Noord-Holland Nature and Environmental Federation, emphasized the importance of a ban on PFAS discharges for companies.

“Environmental agencies must enforce regulations against companies that discharge PFAS,” he said. He is currently seeing plenty of PFAS discharging hotspots in the Netherlands. One well-known case is from the company Chemours.

The company’s factory in Dordrecht was given penalty fines on Thursday by the province of Zuid-Holland for a series of minor violations. The fees range from 10,000 euros to 15,000 euros per violation. Chemours will have to pay if it repeats the same violations or fails to take measures to prevent them.

The environmental agency DCMR, which monitors on behalf of the province, identified five violations at Chemours. These included how the PFAS producer stores waste materials and the submission of reports on the backup power systems at the facility.

Akkerman also mentioned landfills and the area around Schiphol as hotspots, where firefighting foam containing PFAS was used for years. “Hotspots must be cleaned up as soon as possible,” he said.

Akkerman also considers the ban on PFAS in pesticides to be very important. “This is one of the ways that PFAS ends up in people’s blood, via the food.” Pesticide Action Network Nederland (PAN-NL) is also pushing for a ban on PFAS in pesticides. The network said it is “incomprehensible that PFAS pesticides are still being sprayed on our food, despite all the alarming reports.”

PAN-NL fears that it may be too late to take action. “These so-called ‘forever chemicals’ do not break down and accumulate over time.” PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are chemicals that break down very slowly. They have been linked to cancer, elevated cholesterol levels, and reproductive problems.

A total of 11 organizations have started legal cases against the Dutch state. They feel that the state is responsible for the pollution and health damage that PFAS causes. Noord Holland Nature and Environmental Federation has also joined the lawsuits. “Sadly, we think this is taking way too long,” Akkerman said.