Dutch government asks children to stop swallowing sea foam amid PFAS concerns
People lying on the beach in Netherlands.
The Dutch government issued a warning to people to ask their pets and children to stop swallowing foam at the seaside after a study revealed that “forever chemicals” were present in concentrated amounts in the spume.
After research was conducted into foam collected at the Belgian seaside, it showed a concentration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – which are widely used for their waterproofing qualities but are difficult to destroy.
The coast in Zeeland and north and south Holland in April and August was measured by the Dutch public health institute RIVM.
It was also discovered that the sea foam present at popular Dutch resorts, which include Egmond, Katwijk, Scheveningen, Texel and Zandvoort, had comparable levels of PFAS to Belgium.
However, the sea foam – which was collected by the Flemish Institute for Technological Research in one of the samples from the Belgian resort of Knokke – had “very high concentrations” of polyfluoroalkyl substances.
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In a parliamentary briefing on Tuesday (Dec 12), Minister of Water Management Mark Harber said, “It is sensible to have a shower after swimming, wash your hands before eating, and not to let children and pets swallow any sea foam.”
“The RIVM has previously established that people in the Netherlands are already too exposed to PFAS. A large amount comes from food and drinking water. Every route through which people ingest more PFAS is undesirable, including via sea foam,” he added.
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He said that no measures were required related to sea swimming since the water levels were “a lot lower”. In a press release, the RIVM said that it was unclear what the chemicals in foam meant “for the health of … swimmers, surfers, or people walking on the beach” because of a lack of data on acceptable risk levels.
As per the Dutch study, which has measured foam where available, “just as much if not more PFAS occur in Dutch sea foam as have been measured in Flemish sea foam, with the exception of one sample from Knokke in which very high PFAS concentrations were found”.
PFAS have been used in everything, from cosmetics and waterproof clothing tofirefighting foam and pizza boxes.
(With inputs from agencies)