PFAS values that are too high are measured in road salt. This will jeopardize the fight against slippery roads on the roads next winter. Later this week we will get clarity about those results, director Ardin Bos of the Dutch Salt Bank tells the ANP.
“Most of the time we use rock salt as road salt, which comes from the ground through mining. We import this from various European countries and, for example, from Morocco. We also supply cleaner sea salt and vacuum salt, but that is not available enough.Bos said.
Land containing PFAS should no longer be transported just because it is harmful is for nature and the environment. According to Bos, the standard has to be lowered, just like with nitrogen emissions as the action group Grond in Verzet wants.
"The standards must be more flexible, otherwise nothing will happen in the country."
Eurosalt Handelmaatschappij, the salt supplier of Rijkswaterstaat, think it will not go that fast. “That salt has been underground for millions of years. It is mined, processed and covered in ships and trucks, ”said a spokesman.
In a response from the Minister, she indicates that the road salt that Rijkswaterstaat buys comes from deep (600 - 1500 meters) soil layers that were deposited a long time ago.
Rijkswaterstaat, responsible for the Dutch motorways, is still waiting for the results of the road salt analyzes. According to the salt bank, some 200.000 tons of road salt ends up on Dutch roads every year. Van Nieuwenhuizen is not worried that there is no spreading to prevent slippery roads. The cabinet will tell more about the matter later today, the minister said.
In a response from the Minister, she indicates that the road salt that Rijkswaterstaat buys comes from deep (600 - 1500 meters) soil layers that were deposited a long time ago. Soil pollution with PFAS originates from the much more recent industrial period and therefore only occurs in the shallower soil layers. So contamination with PFAS at great depth is very unlikely.
Salt companies do not add any PFAS-containing substances to the salt, various suppliers have confirmed this as a result of the media reports. Fighting slippery roads is therefore not endangered.
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