Eastern Switzerland Both Appenzells extend chemical investigations

Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Innerrhoden will extend their investigations into the presence of the problematic chemical PFAS. According to the cantons, the focus will be on milk samples. For the time being, however, no or only limited investigations of soils, as already carried out by the canton of St. Gallen, are planned.

Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Innerrhoden want to obtain an overview of the PFAS contamination of foodstuffs with their planned investigations, as the two cantons unanimously wrote in response to an inquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency. There are as yet no maximum PFAS levels for milk. However, according to the Ausserrhoden Communications Service and the Innerrhoden Building and Environment Department respectively, if the tests reveal any conspicuous findings, other foods such as meat will be tested.

According to the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, a decision on soil tests will only be made once these results and those of samples already taken from fish are available. Innerrhoden is planning samples at fire training areas in 2025. Drinking water has already been tested in both cantons in 2023. It can be drunk without hesitation.

The canton of St. Gallen recently stopped the sale of meat in some farms. During canton-wide investigations, PFAS-contaminated areas were found between the city of St. Gallen and Lake Constance. Discharged sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants is suspected to be the reason for the soil contamination.

Fertilized with sewage sludge for years

In Appenzell Ausserrhoden, the sewage sludge produced was fully utilized by the agricultural sector from around the end of the 1960s until 1992, the canton added. From 1993 onwards, the sludge was also used for other purposes.

From 2000 onwards, only a few percent of Ausserrhoden's sewage sludge was used in agriculture. This practice was banned in 2003. According to the canton, there are indications that sewage sludge was supplied to farmers in Innerrhoden between 1976 and 1995.

PFAS are poorly degradable chemicals that have been used industrially for decades, for example in fire-fighting foam.

SDA