At first glance, Roger Aastrand’s house looks completely normal. – The walls are measured with the “healthiest” measurement I found on the market. Roger Aastrand is tired of having to work so hard to avoid environmental toxins. Photo: Tone Ollestad Here the straws are made of iron, bamboo or glass. The food is kept in glass, and the only sun cream you find is homemade. – Shea butter and coconut oil are the two things I use. Just that. He does what he can to avoid something called per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances. Better known as PFAS (pronounced pefas). Environmental toxins that last forever – We are concerned about PFAS because all these substances are extremely stable. They won’t disappear. This leads to further consumption and emissions increasing concentrations in the environment, explains Heggelund. He is chief engineer in the Norwegian Environment Agency. There he has worked with PFAS for 10 years. Audun Heggelund is chief engineer in the Norwegian Environment Agency and believes there will be a ban on PFAS. Photo: Fartein Rudjord / Fartein Rudjord – The most common effects that recur are usually effects on the liver. PFAS can lead to higher cholesterol levels, and we can have a reduced immune response, says Audun Heggelund. Therefore, the Norwegian Environment Agency will now have a ban on the substance at international level. PFAS repels water and grease, and is therefore used in many products in Norwegian households. According to FHI (external link), they are used “everywhere”. You can find them in i.a. food packaging, impregnation spray, abrasive coatings in boilers and frying pans, cleaning products, cosmetics, measuring and some types of ski lubrication. Chemicals that are found in make-up, among other things, will now be banned by the Norwegian Environment Agency. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news – Must learn from history We do not produce PFAS in Norway, but we import products that contain them. – In Norwegian, we call them biological chemicals, says Linda Hanssen. Linda Hanssen believes it is important not just to ban one dressing, but all PFAS, as they have a similar physical meaning. Photo: Silje Winnem Ho is an environmental researcher at NILU in the Framsenteret, and has been researching environmental toxins for several years. She believes we should learn from history, and singles out PCB as an example: – The classic environmental toxins that started industrial production almost 100 years ago, we still measure in humans and in nature, she says. PCBs were banned in the 80s. – When it is banned, the number of environmental toxins in the body goes down, says the environmental researcher. Ban against all Normally, the Norwegian Environment Agency applies for a ban against individual substances. – The big disadvantage of regulating one substance at a time is that it can be replaced by something that has similar properties, and then we have come as far, says Heggelund. And as there are over 7,000 PFAS, it will be too extensive to apply for a single ban against all of them. Therefore, Norway, together with Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, is applying to limit the production, sale and use of PFAS in all contexts in the EU and EEA countries. – That is what I have to fight against. We have to stop production and turn the tap back on, says Hanssen. They send the application to ECHA, the European Chemicals Agency. If everything goes according to plan, there will be a ban on PFAS in 2025. Roger’s frying pan is Teflon-free because he does not want PFAS in his food. Photo: Tone Ollestad The industry is not worried about PFAS being, among other things, added to some food packaging. But a possible ban does not worry the Norwegian Packaging Association. – We are very busy following European legislation, EU directives and regulations, says Yngve Krokann. He is competence manager in the association and says they are used to adapting. – As an industry, we adapt to it on an ongoing basis. A lot has happened there lately. Especially within the environment, he says. Taking matters into his own hands, Roger will not use “normal” food packaging, especially not plastic. – Plastic is a waste. It is out of the question to use plastic on food, he says. Together with his family, he has taken measures to avoid PFAS on his own for over 15 years. A ban would make it easier for him to find safe products. – Now things have gotten a lot better in recent years, but the industry still has a way to go, he says. Roger makes his own hair wax and sunscreen in metal and glass packaging. Photo: Tone Ollestad
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The Norwegian Environment Agency wants to ban PFAS, per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
