Residents near EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse: High levels of PFAS found in blood.
Residents living near Basel-Mulhouse EuroAirport have been drinking contaminated water for years. The so-called PFAS chemicals have now been found in high concentrations in their blood.
The drinking water around EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse is contaminated with PFAS, also known as PFCs. Around 60,000 people living in the area are said to be affected. A study has now found the chemical in the blood of a dozen residents. They live just a stone’s throw from the German town of Weil am Rhein (Lörrach district) and Basel. PFAS microparticles can cause neurological problems, damage the thyroid gland or even be carcinogenic.
Franck Bezza lives in Saint-Louis (Alsace), near Basel-Mulhouse EuroAirport. He says he feels queasy every time he takes a sip from the tap. This is because the water is contaminating his body with PFAS. “I’m going to buy an extra filter system to try to reduce the PFAS in the water,” says Bezza.
Previous tests have shown that PFAS have been present in almost all the groundwater in Alsace for at least a decade. Saint-Louis and its surroundings are among the most PFAS-contaminated water networks in France. The concentration of PFAS here exceeds the legal limit by a factor of four. What could be the cause?
For Bruno Wollenschneider, president of the Association for the Defence of the Residents of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse (ADRA), one thing is certain: the cause lies with EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse. ADRA has discovered that the airport is officially blamed for PFAS pollution because of its use of firefighting foam. According to ADRA, firefighting foams are known to pollute the soil where they are used. EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse has also been using firefighting foam in training exercises for decades.
The problem has been identified at other airports in recent years. High levels of PFAS have also been found in drinking water near the former Zweibrücken military airbase in western Germany. The area is home to a number of hermit farms that use their own drinking water wells. Authorities and environmentalists were able to establish that firefighting foams containing PFAS chemicals had been used at three sites around the airfield.
In March, ADRA published a study showing high levels of PFAS in the blood of people living near the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse. Franck Bezza was one of the ten people tested. The blood test results showed PFAS concentrations of up to 20 micrograms per litre of blood or even higher. However, according to the EU’s Human Biomonitoring Initiative, the limit is five micrograms per litre. The association hopes that this blood analysis study will prompt the authorities, which it says are largely inactive, to take action.
However, the results do not really surprise Bruno Wollenschneider. “Since January 2024, we have officially known that the water from the Saint-Louis pipeline is heavily contaminated with PFAS. Around 60,000 people are affected by this pollution, which has certain effects and consequences for our health”, he told France3 Alsace.
According to ADRA, the high levels of PFAS in groundwater do not affect drinking water supplies in Germany and Switzerland. The situation is different for food from Saint-Louis and the surrounding area. Fish from the quarry ponds around Saint-Louis should be avoided, as should vegetables that have been watered with tap water.
There is currently no public statement about the contaminated drinking water. However, a new water supplier for Saint-Louis and the surrounding area should be in place by the end of April. The new operator will have to install a filtration system for PFAS. The question remains who will pay for it: the consumer or the polluter.
PFAS has also been a problem in the Rastatt region for years. Here, the PFAS contamination of the groundwater is said to have been caused by compost. The compost is said to have been mixed with sludge from paper production and spread on fields as fertiliser over several years.
