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PFAS Analyser >> News about PFAS >> 2022-10-20: PFAS levels in water affect crops

2022-10-20: PFAS levels in water affect crops

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2022-10-20: PFAS levels in water affect crops

An article series on how PFAS levels affect agriculture can be found in Land lantbruk 2022-10-14, see link at the end of the article. This article is a brief summary.

Heavy PFAS contamination prevents farmers south of Halmstad from using water for crops and grazing animals. Some of the highest PFAS levels in Sweden have been measured in the area.

Since two growing seasons, the municipality advises farmers against using water from Trönningeån near the Kistinge industrial area. In Kistingebäcken, harmful PFAS chemicals were measured far above the guideline values ​​already in 2015.

In follow-up samples in 2019 and 2020, levels of up to 20,000 nanograms per litre were shown in the groundwater and 3,300 nanograms per litre in the surface water. The guideline value for drinking water is 90 nanograms per litre. When the farmers were informed in 2020, they stopped pumping water from the river so as not to spread the chemicals on to grazing cattle or the approximately 100 hectares suitable for growing potatoes and specialty crops.

The question of responsibility for the emissions is being investigated

It has been investigated that, in addition to the municipality, 14 businesses have contributed to the spread of PFAS. However, it is still unclear how and if the farmers' water situation can be resolved. The municipal board has decided that the farmers themselves must bear the cost of diverting water pipes to a stream with fresh water and demand compensation when the liability investigation is completed in several years.

Farmers are advised not to irrigate, which endangers the cultivation of potatoes and white cabbage. Emissions from Kistinge industrial area continue.

According to the Environmental Code, it is those who caused the emissions who are responsible for cleaning up and compensating for the damage.

Lawyers at LRF, on the other hand, believe that it is wrong to let the farmers deal with the problem at their own expense while waiting for the results of the liability investigation, with reference to Chapter 10 of the Environmental Code. Something that has been presented to the municipality's land and development office.

For the time being, farmers are advised against using the water from Trönningeån for crops and animals. Analysis results of water samples have been sent to the Environmental Protection Agency in the autumn, which will make a new risk assessment, according to Tomas Sjöstedt.

Farmers are responsible for the safety of their products

Farmers are responsible for the safety of their products, while there is currently a lack of sufficient knowledge about when problematic levels of PFAS in food occur. In a new government assignment, the Swedish authorities will sort out the dilemma. After studies on both laboratory animals and humans, the TWI (tolerable weekly intake) limit has been lowered for what can be considered safe exposure levels.

After prodding at the government office in the spring of 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency, together with the Swedish Agency for Agriculture and the Swedish Food Agency, has been tasked with increasing knowledge about PFAS in food in 2022–2024.

Sampling to map hidden PFAS compounds

John Strand, limnologist (expert on inland water) and environmental advisor at the Household Association in Lilla Böslid believes that growing crops likely absorb PFAS because the bottom fauna does. So far, there is little research on this, so it is the precautionary principle that applies for now.

According to John Strand, increased sampling is needed to detect hidden PFAS contamination which is probably widespread in the agricultural landscape and for this funding is needed. The next challenge is the cleanup itself, he emphasizes.