They are toxic and carcinogenic – and have been found in high concentrations in the groundwater beneath the town of Pinneberg on the outskirts of the German city of Hamburg, as the daily TagesZeitung taz reports. Groundwater samples there showed a maximum of 696,000 micrograms (μg) per litre of volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons (VCH). This is 70,000 times higher than the threshold of insignificance in groundwater and the permitted level in drinking water. Values of this magnitude have never been exceeded in the Pinneberg district before,” says the district’s environmental department.
A ‘danger to health cannot be ruled out. There are also fears that the small river Pinnau could be contaminated and that the poisoning could spread to the water protection area ‘Peiner Weg’.
How the chemicals got into the soil and further into the groundwater is a matter of conjecture. According to the website of the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment, “CKWs are used in many industries for degreasing metals, removing paint, as extraction agents and for cleaning textiles. They are also found in leachate from landfill sites”.
