The Husar sisters have sky-high levels of health-hazardous chemicals in their blood.
The final verdict regarding the drinking water in Kallinge, which was contaminated with PFAS, will come shortly.
– Sometimes I think I will die earlier than I should have, says Sindy Husar, 17.
The questions in Kallinge, Bleking, are many.
– “Will I be able to have children in the future? Will I get sick or my family or someone else?” These are things I ask myself, says 21-year-old Filippa Husar.
For many, tap water is the cleanest we can imagine drinking. But for Filippa and Sindy Husar in Kallinge, it was contaminated with PFAS when they were growing up. Now they have very high levels of the hazardous chemicals in their bodies and they are worried about how it will affect them.
– Sometimes I think that nothing will happen to me, but then you think that things have actually happened to people. That I might as well become one of them. To die earlier than I should have, says 17-year-old Sindy Husar.
– Living with such thoughts and being so young is not great fun. Once the thoughts come, it gets dark, says Filippa Husar.
The drinking water poisoned 5,000 residents
Ten years ago, it was discovered that the drinking water was poisoned and around 5,000 residents were found to have very high levels in their blood. The chemicals came from fire foam that has been used at the F17 air base for decades.
The PFAS chemicals are long-lived and can cause serious diseases, including cancer.
Herman Alfzelius, chairman of the PFAS association, believes that the effects of the toxins are now being seen.
– Four out of six on the board who have now contracted serious illnesses, including cancer. I myself got cancer a few years ago and it’s something we’ve always been worried about, says Herman Alfzelius.
Judgment in the Supreme Court
The PFAS association with 150 members has pursued a legal process against the municipal water company in Ronneby. In the district court, they were right, but the Court of Appeal then changed the verdict. Soon the Supreme Court will decide whether they have suffered personal injury and in such cases they are entitled to compensation.
– It’s sad that you have to go through a process like this when it’s so obvious what happened and it’s obvious that these are not good chemicals to have in your body, just because you want help and support, says Herman Alfzelius.
If they are right, the verdict will be a guide for similar cases in the future.
– Everyone has the right to clean drinking water and we have had poison in ours, it is terrible and unfair, says Filippa Husar.