The exciting wait for the people who have an allotment garden at Volkstuin Delta in Helmond seems to have come to an end. According to the RIVM, although the allotment garden has an increased concentration of PFAS, it remains below the standard. The allotments were investigated after a warning from the RIVM about another allotment garden complex on the Sluisdijk in Helmond.
The RIVM warned the users of the Sluisdijk not to eat fruit and vegetables from the vegetable gardens anymore, in connection with the presence of PFAS. PFAS is a collective name for about four thousand chemicals that are difficult to degrade. The vegetable gardens are not far from the Custom Powders company, which used GenX and PFOA in the past.
RIVM also examined the allotments at Delta, but now says that people there can eat fruit and vegetables from their own garden, provided they do not do this every day. “Vegetable gardeners can get less PFAS if they alternate eating their own crops with fruits and vegetables from the store.”
“We can continue.”
The chairman of the allotments says he is relieved by the conclusion of the RIVM. “We can just continue. We can also continue to spend with gardens and redecorate the entire garden. Members can now make a decision about what they want to do.”
It is still unclear what will happen to the allotments on the Sluisdijk in Helmond. The ground was to be cleaned up at the end of last year. That renovation would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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