Excessively high levels of PFAS were found in groundwater near a company site in Arendonk in the Antwerp province. The local authority confirmed on Friday that several measures relating to well water consumption have been implemented.
PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances which are harmful to health and the environment. Local authorities are therefore asking residents within a 500-metre radius of the site not to use well water for drinking, cooking, filling their swimming pools or watering their vegetable gardens. It can, however, be used for activities such as car washing.
The contamination of the company's site is believed to be historical in nature, and therefore not the fault of the current owners. Further investigation is required to determine the seriousness of the pollution. A soil analysis was also carried out, but it proved reassuring, according to the Flemish public agency in charge of waste (OVAM). Consequently, no measures relating to land use are necessary.
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This is the second site in the municipality of Arendonk with excessively high PFAS values. A fire station also posed a problem, possibly due to the use of fire extinguishers that had foam containing PFAS in the past.
In Flanders, the issue of PFAS contamination has been in the news regularly since the discovery of widespread pollution caused by the chemical company 3M at Zwijndrecht in Antwerp.
