Poisonous whitecaps
Created: 06/29/2022, 11:02 am
By: Andrea Graepel
Significant foam formation: Residents in the Kienbach have been observing foam for months, especially after heavy rain.
No pollutants were found in March and May, but now PFC has been detected.
Photo: Water Management Office Weilheim © Water Management Office Weilheim
Noticeable foam during heavy rain had worried residents of the Kienbach in Herrsching in May.
Tests initially yielded no result – the carcinogenic substance PFC was now found in a new sample.
A dangerous situation is currently not recognizable, explains district spokesman Stefan Diebl.
Herrsching
– The results were a long time coming.
Suspicious foam formed on the Kienbach during heavy rain at the beginning of May.
Now it is clear: He was charged.
The State Office for the Environment in Augsburg informed the Water Management Office in Weilheim at the end of last week that a sample taken in June contained an increased level of carcinogenic PFC (perfluorinated hydrocarbons).
The limit has been significantly exceeded.
The Weilheim authority informed the health department and the veterinary office at the district office in Starnberg on Monday.
Those responsible there are currently not assuming any acute danger, as spokesman Stefan Diebl says.
To be on the safe side, however, further samples would be taken today at the mouth of the Ammersee to substantiate this assessment.
As reported, Angelika Preisinger from Herrsching drew attention to heavy foam formation in May and to the fact that she, as a resident of the Kienbach, had not seen any fish in it for a long time.
The water management office took a sample back then and sent it to the laboratory of the State Office for the Environment.
The Weilheim department head Stefan Raab spoke of substances of organic origin at the time, but could not identify any particular abnormalities.
At the beginning of June there was heavy foaming again, Angelika Preisinger sounded the alarm again.
Again a sample was taken.
The result was presented to the Water Management Office on Friday and also surprised Raab: PFC.
He hadn't expected that.
According to the laboratory report, it can be assumed that the foaming was caused by PFC.
This is supported by the fact that the foam was very white and collapsed only slightly even overnight.
However, since no PFC was found in a sample from last March, other factors were the cause of the foam formation at that time and others.
“There was no evidence of PFCs in either March or May.
We start with a single result.
The sample was only taken at one point," says Stefan Diebl from the district office.
According to the Starnberg Health Department, there is no acute danger.
“An outlier” cannot be ruled out.
However, the health department will resample itself this Wednesday to be sure and to be able to quickly eliminate any uncertainties.
The water management office is also asked to carry out gradual follow-up sampling from the confluence with Lake Ammer and up the course of the stream.
To avoid any delays, the samples from the Starnberg authorities were immediately examined at the State Office for Health and Food Safety in Erlangen, explains Diebl.
At the same time, the search for the origin begins.
PFC pollution can have many causes.
In the Landsberg district, exposure to fire-fighting foam had been detected at the Penzing military airfield and in the adjacent "Lost Stream".
PFC is also found in refrigerants and propellants, is used in electroplating, it is in fuel cells, in photovoltaic systems, paints, varnishes and also in cleaning agents.
