Fabriek Custom Powders in Helmond has deposited waste water with very high concentrations of PFAS directly onto the sewer for 15 years. This is the conclusion of a study by TV program Zembla. The makers received internal documents from the Dupont company and spoke with several former employees of Custom Powders. For years, the company dried Teflon powder for chemical company Dupont in Dordrecht, now known as Chemours.
According to Zembla, thousands of kilos of PFOA, a now forbidden and carcinogenic type of PFAS. The municipality of Helmond wants to remediate in the surroundings of Custom Powders. That cleaning campaign will cost ten million euros. The majority is paid by the empire. Helmond wanted Custom Powders to bear the costs of cleaning, but the company went bankrupt.
According to Zembla, experts say that Custom Powders’ conduct is’ outrageous’ and ‘criminal’. In 2018, Custom Powders was already discredited because pollution was found at the sewage treatment in Aarle-Rixtel. It was then about the toxic substance GenX.
“Values in the blood employees extremely high.”
In 2007, Dupont had blood tests done at the employees in Helmond. The measured values of PFOA were even many times higher in some employees than the now notorious concentrations in the blood of most Dupont employees in Dordrecht and the United States.
One of the employees has concentrations in his blood that are a thousand times higher than the current standard that RIVM considers safe. Another employee has blood values that are 800 times above that standard. According to environmental chemist and PFAS expert Chiel Jonker, the values are ‘extremely high’ and are among the highest PFOA values that have ever been found in people in the Netherlands.
“Apparently you will find money a lot more important than human lives and the environment.”
The documents make it clear that Dupont was certainly aware of the deposits on the sewer since 2011. Chiel Jonker responds with bewilderment: “Pfoa does not break down, it is toxic and bad for the environment. They know that and yet it goes into the sewer. That is outrageous.” Professor of Integrity Rob van Eijbergen mentions the actions of the companies criminal: “Apparently you will find money a lot more important than human lives and the environment.”
Alderman Arno Bonte of the municipality of Helmond mentions the years of sewerage rags: “This is completely contrary to the applicable permits at that time. The direct discovery of the sewer is criminal.”
“Custom Powders is responsible for complying with permits.”
In a response, Chemours announced that the internal documents in the hands of Zembla do not know and that “according to the then applicable legislation” no crucial information has been withheld. And also that ‘custom Powders himself bears responsibility for complying with the obligations from its permits’.
The company does not respond to the accusation that the discharge into the sewer is criminal. Custom Powders does not do that either. In a statement, the leadership of the British company writes, among other things, that they ‘deeply’ deeply the negative consequences for people and the environment and the role that Custom Powders played. Furthermore, the company emphasizes that they always had the required permits and that they were issued on the basis of the ‘full safety and environmental information of Chemours’.
“Ultimately, you find out that you dumped chemicals in the river.”
In the Zembla broadcast ‘The PFAS-Spoor’, former employee Chris Morrison is telling his story for the first time. He worked for more than 25 years before Custom Powders in Helmond and said he was exposed to the poisonous PFAS without knowing it. “At first we were extremely proud to work for Dupont. I was part of science that would make the world better,” he says. ‘Ultimately, you will find out that you dumped chemicals in the river, have polluted the environment. And nothing has been told us. ”
Morrisson appeared to have colon cancer two years ago, but he says: “I can’t blame the PFAS chemicals.” Environmental chemist Jonker agrees: “It would not surprise me if he received colon cancer due to the extremely high exposure to PFOA, but it is very difficult to prove that.”
“I would no longer eat those eggs myself.”
To check whether the PFOA is also present in the food in the vicinity of the factory in Helmond, Zembla did a sample with hobby chickens. Eggs of six different locations, between 600 meters and four kilometers from the factory were tested for the presence of PFOA.
The regional test of Zembla shows that four of the six hobby chickens tested is in eggs above the EU limit value for PFOA. Chiel Jonker: “That means that there are risks involved. I would no longer eat those eggs.” Last week the RIVM came with the advice not to eat eggs from hobby chickens in the Netherlands because of the risk of excessive intake of PFAS.
The broadcast of Zembla ‘The PFAS-Spoor’ can be seen on NPO2 on Sunday evening at 10.10 pm.