The Afzelius family cooks Sunday dinner in Kallinge, southern Sweden. 15 years old Nahla Afzelius pouring water into the pasta pot, dad Herman Afzelius washing vegetables.
In mid-December, it will be 11 years since 5,000 residents of the Kallinge agglomeration learned that the water flowing from the kitchen faucet is poisonous.
It had been poisoned by the odorless and tasteless environmental poison PFAS, which has polluted waterways around the world.
– The PFAS concentration in tap water was the highest ever measured in the world. It was so high that at first even the experts thought that there had been a mistake in the measurement, says Herman Afzelius.
The water intake areas that were in use were immediately closed and drinking water started to be piped to the homes from water sources located further away.
Herman Afzelius first thought that the problem was temporary. It took some time for him to realize that the poisons would affect his life for decades to come.
The case clearly shows the effects of the still poorly known PFAS compounds.
The extinguishing foams caused pollution
It soon turned out that the contamination of the drinking water had been caused by extinguishing foams used for decades in the nearby army fire training area. Foams are one of the most significant known relatives of PFAS compounds.
Extinguishing foams have also caused environmental pollution in Finland.
PFAS chemicals are fluorine compounds that have been used carelessly in industry for decades. It was only in the 21st century that it was discovered that PFAS compounds break down extremely slowly in the environment and can be dangerous to health. That’s why they came to be called eternity chemicals.
Exposure to PFAS compounds can have many health effects.
All Kallinga residents received an invitation to a blood test. They showed that the PFAS concentrations of the entire Afzelius family, including the children, were well above the permitted limits.
15-year-old Nahla Afzelius thinks the situation is scary.
– I hope I don’t get sick. I don’t know if my immune defenses have weakened, because these days I get sick really easily, I’ve had allergies. No one knows if this could all be due to PFAS.
Watch the video to see what the MOT report is all about:
Not all the health effects of the compounds are known
All members of the Afzelius family have suffered from the effects of poisons in one way or another. According to studies, PFAS compounds have been found to have caused an increased risk of kidney cancer and high cholesterol levels in the area. However, not all health effects of the compounds are fully known.
Herman Afzelius fell ill with a rare soft tissue cancer a couple of years ago.
Nahla Afzelius remembers what it was like to hear that her father had fallen ill.
– I was really worried, my thoughts were spinning in circles. I was afraid that father would die if the cancer was malignant.
However, Herman Afzelius, according to his own words, was “lucky”.
– Thanks to the pat in the arm, the cancer was found in time, before it had time to spread. The cancerous tumor could be cut out.
Also Ninnie WikströmNahla’s mother, names her ex-spouse’s illness as one of the hardest moments.
Another shock came to him when he got Lund University to do a study after he found out that his youngest daughter had elevated PFAS levels.
The daughter has never lived in Kallinge.
Blood tests were taken from Ninnie Wikström both during pregnancy and after giving birth. It has been shown that PFAS compounds are transferred to the fetus through the placenta, and later the mother can transfer them with breast milk to the child.
– I breastfed my younger daughter for a long time, at the same time transferring PFAS compounds to her. On the other hand, researchers say that breastfeeding is worth it, the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the disadvantages. The situation still doesn’t feel good, says Wikström.
The PFAS association won the legal battle
According to Herman Afzelius, one big problem has been the lack of access to information. That’s why the residents of the area founded the PFAS association. It sued the local water utility in 2016.
– The most unreasonable thing in all of this has been that we who have been poisoned have to go to court ourselves to get health checks or to get compensation.
The health status of the entire population of Kallinge has not been systematically monitored since the beginning of the water disaster.
The PFAS association won the legal battle a year ago, in December 2023. According to the Supreme Court’s decision, drinking tap water contaminated with PFAS compounds is a personal injury and the municipal residents have the right to compensation, whether the person got sick or not.
– This defines how to act if substances harmful to health end up in the drinking water. This is an important guideline for all of us who drink water in Sweden or in the EU region in general.
What is reasonable compensation for exposure to poisons?
This fall, the association submitted a claim for damages to the local water utility. Ahead is a reflection on the amount of compensation.
– How much has the exposure been worth? 100,000 kroner? 50,000 kroner? A million crowns? What is a reasonable level of compensation if the poison stays in your body for the rest of your life?
Herman Afzelius has to undergo cancer check-ups for about ten years.
The compounds will not be removed from Nahla Afzelius’ bloodstream after about 25 years at the earliest. He will be 40 years old then.
– It’s really hard to think about it, the time is so long. I’ll probably have time to have children by then, and then I’ll transfer poisons to my own children. It doesn’t feel good at all, says Nahla Afzelius.
In Finland, PFAS concentrations in drinking water have not been systematically measured. In the measurements made, the limit values have not been exceeded.