Undesirable chemicals found in bodies of Swiss residents

Perfluorooctane sulphonic acid, or PFOS, a substance banned in Switzerland since 2010, can be found in food, water, clothing and old frying pans. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

A human bio-monitoring study by the Federal Office of Public Health has revealed undesirable chemical residues are present in the bodies of Swiss men and women. Among them was perfluorooctane sulphonic acid, or PFOS, a substance banned in Switzerland since 2010.

The study authors took blood and urine samples from 789 healthy people aged between 20-69 in the cantons of Vaud and Bern for a type of analysis that is new to Switzerland.

Among the notable results, the report highlights that “exposure to PFOS is a cause for concern for health, with 3.6% of participants exposed to concentrations exceeding the threshold value set for PFOS. This substance from the PFAS family has been banned in the European Union and Switzerland for over ten years, with a few exceptions, but it is still present in the environment and in the human body because of its long life and high mobility”.

PFOS a potential health hazard

Murielle Bochud, a professor of public health at the University of Lausanne’s Faculty of Biology and Medicine, worked on the pilot study. 

“We measured a number of synthetic chemical substances. One of the findings was that, on the one hand, some of these substances were not detectable, which is good. On the other hand, other substances known to be potentially dangerous to health were detected in a certain percentage of participants, in particular perfluorooctane sulphonic acid, or PFOS,” she told Swiss public radio RTS.

This synthetic chemical molecule is part of a wider family of products known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkylated substances). They are found in water, food, clothes, shoes and the atmosphere.

“These substances are of interest in several industrial sectors, such as textiles and aerospace. They have been synthesised since the 1950s. As soon as a potential health hazard was identified, some of these substances were banned, notably PFOS. However, as these substances persist in the environment for a long time, they are still detectable today,” said Bochud.

A healthy lifestyle recommended

While PFOS has been banned in Switzerland since 2010, residues take several years to disappear — hence their presence in the environment, in food and, by extension, the human body.

To keep away from PFOS, Bochud recommends a healthy, varied diet, regular exercise and avoiding smoking. People should also avoid keeping old kitchen utensils such as frying pans. Pre-packaged food should also be avoided.

As a follow-up to this initial pilot study, the public health office has drawn up a report for the federal government. “The public health community in Switzerland supports the setting up of a large population cohort to give us a better idea of the current situation, for example 100,000 people followed for 20 years, to determine whether the situation is worsening or improving,” said the report.

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