Doctor-host drank contaminated PFAS water: "The taste I can certainly live with, but the toxins concern me"

In Denmark, over half of the drinking water reservoirs contain harmful chemicals such as PFAS and pesticides in the groundwater, according to DR's climate magazine, The Earth is Getting Warmer.

21 minutes ago

On your summer vacation south of the border, you might have asked yourself if it was safe to open the water tap to quench your thirst with a cold glass of tap water.

In many parts of the world, it's a good idea to check first before drinking directly from the tap.

Fortunately, this is not a problem in Denmark, where we take pride in having some of the world's cleanest drinking water.

Unfortunately, not all the water in Denmark is completely free of harmful chemicals.

Measurements show that in higher concentrations, PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, and pesticides are being found in the groundwater beneath Denmark, where we obtain almost all our drinking water from.

"When you know that there are small amounts of PFAS in the water, you think about it when you drink it," says Thøger Kirk, host of DR's climate magazine The Earth is Getting Warmer.

In the video accompanying the article, DR presenter Thøger Kirk tastes a little of Denmark's PFAS-contaminated groundwater.

"I could probably live with the taste - the most harmful substances are what I'm thinking about," says The Earth is Getting Warmer presenter Thøger Kirk.

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Doctors like Paula Hammer, who is a doctor and clinical toxicologist at the Work and Environment Medical Clinic at Bispebjerg Hospital, confirm that substances like PFAS and pesticides do not belong in our drinking water.

"But given the situation, we unfortunately cannot live completely chemical-free. So we find ourselves in a situation where we have to prioritize which chemicals we are willing to accept in our drinking water and at what levels," she says.

But how do these contaminants end up in our water? And is Denmark's groundwater and our overall health really at risk?

You can learn much more about this in DR's climate magazine The Earth is Getting Warmer. You can stream it now on DRTV.

26. AUG 2024 | 25M *The Earth is Getting Warmer:* Is our drinking water at risk? ( https://www.dr.dk/drtv/episode/the-earth-is-getting-warmer_-is-our-drinking-water-at-risk_473614 )

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