Children and young people in Germany have many long-lasting chemicals in the blood. The President of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Dirk Messner, warned on Monday in Dessau, the damage caused by them are often still unexplored. Specifically, it is the so-called per – and polyfluorinated chemicals, short-PFAS. They are used for example for the coating of coffee-cups, outdoor jackets, pans, or for fire-fighting foams, because they are fat-, water – and dirt-repellent.
Out of these 4700 chemicals comprehensive group of substances, the so-called perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and PERFLUORO octanoic acid (PFOA) were found in a study of two chemicals most commonly. In one fifth of the studied samples of children between three and 17 years, the PFOA concentration above a Commission set value to the health impairment is excluded. Around seven per cent were above the threshold values for PFOS.
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PFAS will also be given via the mother’s milk more
PFAS have been found to accumulate primarily in fatty tissue and can also be transferred via breast milk from mother to child. The results of the study show that breast-fed children are higher contaminated with PFAS than non-breastfed children. Increased concentrations of PFOA and PFOS in human blood can reduce the effects of vaccinations, the propensity to infections, increase the cholesterol values increase, and in the offspring, reduced birth weight may result.
Since PFAS are used in many products, it is not easy to avoid contact with these chemicals. The Federal environment Agency advises consumers to dispense in coated paperboard preserved food. Also dirt-repellent textiles, such as carpets or curtains contribute to the load.
Substances are spread via air and ocean currents
PFAS are also a Problem for the environment: Due to their longevity, they are spread across air and sea currents over a large area around the globe. They have also been detected in seals, sea eagles, otters, and polar bears.
The Federal environment Agency tests, together with other European countries to ban these substances in the European Union”, as far as possible,” said Messner. “This is in the benefit of the right step reasons.”