PFAS Toxicity in German Wild Boar from regions with wind farms

From Germany- Tichy’s Insight magazine:

OFFICIAL WARNING AGAINST CONSUMPTION

When the wind turbine makes the wild boar liver inedible

HOLGER DOUGLAS

Sa, 10. August 2024

Wind and weather permanently shim the surfaces of the rotor blades of wind turbines. The particles that contain toxic substances such as PFAS are spread over forest and meadows - and contaminate wild boar livers. The wind turbine industry is resisting a ban on these substances: without PFAS no construction of wind turbines.

The State Investigation Office in Rhineland-Palatinate strongly advises against eating liver from wild boars. Marketing and further processing in other products are even prohibited.

The reason is health risks, as the State Investigation Office announced in a press release on Monday. This was shown by studies on behalf of the Ministry of Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility (MKUEM).

The reason: The liver of wild boars is heavily burdened with so-called eternity chemicals such as PFAS. These are so-called perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances.

These are chemicals that are used in many industrial processes and are difficult to degrade. They accumulate both in the water and in the soil and in the human body, hence the name eternity chemicals.

A total of 60 samples of wild boars killed in Rhineland-Palatinate (30 samples of meat and 30 samples of the associated liver) were tested for PFAS in an external laboratory. The results show that all wild boar livers have since the 1st January 2023 have significantly exceeded the EU-wide maximum level of PFAS. The PFAS total contents for the compounds PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), PFNA (perfluorononaic acid) and PFHxS (perfluorohexanesulfonic acid) were between 98 micrograms per kilogram (µg/kg) and 738 µg/kg for the 30 wild boar liver samples; the average was 310 µg/kg. The maximum level under food law, which must not be exceeded, is 50 µg/kg for wild boar liver.

These so-called PFAS are a group of substances that includes thousands of compounds. Hardly any area in which they are not used due to their usefulness. But they have been banned for a long time. However, they have a vehement champion: The solar and wind turbine industry, of all people, is fighting for and against prohibitions of these eternity chemicals.

They are also considered indispensable in the production of solar systems, heat pumps and wind turbines. So far, there is virtually no alternative for PFAS, such as Stefan Rinck from the producer in the field of solar technology, Singulus Technologies AG.

"But this is worrying, because this is basically a carte blanche for the fact that we will toxically put our landscape into a very critical state bit by bit in the next few decades, if these materials simply get into the environment." This is what Thomas Mock says in conversation with the TE alarm clock. Mock has been working as a lawyer for many years, especially in environmental law. We had already explained how toxic wind turbines are in various conversations.

The reason: The rotor blades are immediately exposed to the weather. "Hail and rain and many other phenomena rub on the surface and lead to a roavening of this surface, which on the one hand leads to a reduced yield of the wind turbines, which is why an extensive industry has now been created to carry out the repairs on surfaces that are rubbed or damaged. But on the other hand, the stuff that is rubbed off remains somewhere," says Mock.

Wind and weather therefore sand the surfaces of the rotor blades in the long run. They look very porous after a few years and have to be replaced. The particles are distributed over field, forest and meadows. "You can currently expect about 100 kilograms of abrasion per year per wind turbine. At 100 kilos per year, this is 30 years of life, three tons of materials that are rubbed off there."

These are microparticles that can be harmful to health and carbon fibers. These can be highly toxic in fires, for example, and are lung-to-to-e. "And it is the eternity chemicals PFAS and bisphenol A that were classified as worrying according to the decision of the European Court of Justice of 9.3. 2023."

Mock: "This leads to the fact that these toxic substances and materials are rubbed over areas intended for agricultural use and thus move and contaminate these areas with the materials bit by bit. With a continuous entry of these materials of up to 30 years, this can lead to quite toxic quantities, especially if there are still several wind turbines." If such materials are banned, then the fields could very likely no longer be considered for further agricultural use for food.

It is not surprising that the harmful substances are already detected in wild boars in Rhineland-Palatinate of all places. By the way, also in Schleswig-Holstein, i.e. in countries where the SPD, Greens and also CDU are proud of the many wind turbines.

Wind turbines are not the only cause. The question urgently needs to be clarified, how these substances get to the fields and into the forests, where the wild boars are located and into the groundwater? But it is not for nothing that the wind turbine industry and the wind turbine lobby are fighting against a ban on these eternity chemicals. Without them, the production of solar cells and wind turbines would practically come to a standstill.

For the hunters among the readers: The meat of wild boars, on the other hand, is harmless to health in relation to these eternity chemicals, according to the State Investigation Office Rhineland-Palatinate expressly.

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