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Wind turbines release PFAS into the environment from coatings and lubricants. For a renewable energy source to help the planet this feels deeply wrong.
by sharpshadow 1y ago
Wind turbines release PFAS into the environment from coatings and lubricants. For a renewable energy source to help the planet this feels deeply wrong.
- Y-bar 1y ago> In Sweden, other false claims (the latest dating back to August) suggested that there is a connection between the presence of wind farms and high levels of PFAS (also known as “forever chemicals”) in livestock. It all came from an episode in Denmark in the fall of 2022, when it was discovered that 180 cows grazing on coastal meadows had levels of PFAS in their bodies too high to be sold as food. A Swedish newspaper claimed that the high levels came from wind farms west of Denmark, saying that PFAS were a component of the paints used to cover the blades of wind turbines. Although both authorities and researchers denied that the substances found in the cows could have come from the wind turbines, the claims spread on social media and entered the political debate. https://edmo.eu/publications/wind-turbines-and-poisoned-animals-a-new-denials-popular-disinformation-narrative-against-renewable-energy/ https://edmo.eu/publications/wind-turbines-and-poisoned-anim...
- sharpshadow 1y agoDidn’t hear about this until now, but this gives me the opportunity to expand my point. Recently there are effort taken to reduce PFAS chemicals in wind turbines, because the abrasion of various parts exposed the environment around the plants to those chemicals. All older installations are still contaminating the soil and so my estimation sooner or later the ground water too. The concentration is probably much less than those paper sludges, but still for forever chemicals any exposure will be long lasting and damaging.