Dear readers,
is sailing carcinogenic? Last week, the environmental protection organisation Greenpeace drew attention to the fact that the so-called perpetuating chemical PFAS was detected in sea foam on North Sea and Baltic Sea beaches for the first time. The discovery made the headlines. Readers were given the impression that a new danger had been identified. Are beach visitors and water sports enthusiasts in contact with seawater facing a health risk that was not yet known?
The abbreviation PFAS stands for per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances. One of them is known under the trade name Teflon. Valued for their grease, dirt and water-repellent properties, PFAS have been used since the 1950s. For example, to protect textiles from dirt and moisture, cookware from sticky food and glasses from fogging. Even dental floss and cosmetics contain the substances, as do waxes and lubricants and, last but not least, some boat polishes.
In contrast to many other chemicals, PFAS are extremely stable and most are barely biodegradable. It has been known for many years that they are increasingly accumulating in the environment, in humans and animals. They get there in a wide variety of ways. About forty of the approximately 10,000 known PFAS can be identified using chemical detection methods. Humans mainly ingest them through food. Less is known about the damage this can cause to health.
There have been scientific studies on this question for a long time. However, the results read as vaguely as the package leaflet for a medicine: certain PFAS could damage the liver, the hormone and immune system and disrupt fat metabolism, for example, lead to cardiovascular diseases, worsen the effect of vaccinations, result in a lower birth weight, reduce fertility or cause cancer.
The fact that the substances can be detected in the environment is nothing new. Five years ago, a Publication of the Federal Environment Agency "These substances (...) are transported around the world via air and water. We even find them in polar bears and penguins that live far away from our human civilisation."
The fact that PFAS can also be found in seafoam was therefore to be expected when Greenpeace took and analysed seafoam in Sankt Peter Ording, Sylt and Norderney and in Boltenhagen and Kühlungsborn in November 2024 (North Sea samples) and January 2025 (Baltic Sea samples). This categorisation of the study, which was presented to the entire media landscape last week, was mostly missing.
However, the environmental activists have hit a nerve with their campaign. The beaches on the North Sea and Baltic Sea are symbolic for many people. They stand for unspoilt nature, and the news disturbs this image. Anyone not familiar with the topic could read: "Contaminated sea foam makes the beach a risk area!" - And water sports enthusiasts will ask themselves whether contact with seawater, or even sea spray on the face, is carcinogenic.
It is to be welcomed that Greenpeace is helping to raise awareness of the potential health risks posed by PFAS in the environment by publishing the results of the study. However, it would be wrong to give the impression that politicians have been sleeping through the issue so far. According to the Federal Ministry of Health it is already being dealt with at European level.
And an acute increase in the danger posed by the chemicals compared to previous summers, as the headlines last week suggested, is fortunately not to be expected for water sports enthusiasts and beach visitors next season.
Lasse Johannsen
Deputy Editor-in-Chief YACHT
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The week in pictures
Recommended reading from the editorial team
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Record low water level in Lake Zurich
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Series of thefts continues
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Second-hand boat of the week
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Breehorn 55 review
Is it the ideal home at sea?
A pilothouse, teak fittings and an unusually accessible service tunnel: this is how the Breehorn 55 works below deck, and these compromises remain.
Newsletter: YACHT-Woche
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