Avoid sea foam – and wash yourself if you touch it, say PFAS experts

People should avoid touching or swimming through sea and freshwater foam, and wash themselves if they do, according to a panel of experts assessing the risk of exposure to a chemical linked to various health conditions, including cancer, infertility and high cholesterol.

Sea foam – the white froth often seen on the waterline, especially on windy and stormy days – has been found to contain high concentrations of PFAS, a family of toxic chemicals which is present in Jersey, as it is worldwide.

Following the concerns of residents, especially those living in an area of high contamination by the Airport, where firefighting foam containing the chemical was sprayed, the government formed a panel of scientific experts to guide its response.

That panel, which has just published a draft of its final report, has made dozens of recommendations – many of which have been taken on board, including blood-testing and PFAS-lowering treatments for eligible Islanders with high concentrations of the chemical in their system.

“Skin should be rinsed, especially on children”

It puts Jersey among the most proactive jurisdictions tackling this issue, which include Denmark, Sweden and the USA.

In its latest report, the panel – which includes leading PFAS authorities Dr Tony Fletcher and Professor Ian Cousins – advises Islanders that “contact with persistent sea foam and freshwater foams should be avoided, if possible.

“Where there has been contact with foams, skin should be rinsed, especially on children and before eating or drinking.”

The panel said that owing to the properties of PFAS – which was invented more than 80 years ago and used widely because of its ability to repel water, oil, heat and grease – the chemical was attracted to the thin film on the surface of water, at its interface with air.

Sampling in Jersey this winter found measurable PFAS in sea foam at two locations.

“It can get really quite concentrated”

Explaining the panel’s recommendation, its chair, Dr Steve Hajioff, said: “Sea foam is not caused by PFAS but because of the way that PFAS works, it tends to accumulate in the foam, and it can get really quite concentrated.

“There is already guidance and the Public Health Department advised a while ago that you should not really be touching foams if you can avoid it.”

He added: “We have just gone slightly further than that: we have said avoid foams, but we have also said, if you have touched foam, wash your hands. The risk of the foam getting in through your skin and doing you harm is negligible, but the risk of you having it on your hands and eating a sandwich and you taking it in that way, is higher.

“So, just as a belt-and-braces precaution: it is wise to rinse your hands or wipe them or wash them before you eat, and to wipe the hands, particularly of small children who stick their hands in their mouth all the time.

“Would I say that foam is the major cause of PFAS going into people’s bodies? No, most of it is still going to be coming from drinking water and food, the same as everywhere else in the world.”

“I’ve seen children and dogs playing in sea foam”

Islander Claire Simon, who lives in an area of St Ouen’s Bay which has been found to be a ‘hotspot’ of PFAS contamination, said she had been raising concerns about sea and freshwater foam for more than a decade.

She said: “I am very pleased that the panel has raised this issue, because I’ve seen children and dogs playing in sea foam, but it should be avoided. This is not scaremongering, nor it is telling people not to swim in the sea; it is just stay clear of the foam.”

Another recommendation of the panel – that Jersey should set a legal maximum limit of 4 nanograms of PFAS per litre of drinking water within five years – is due to be debated in the States Assembly this week.

READ MORE…