High PFAS levels detected at US military base in Greenland

Water samples from Pituffik Space Base in Greenland show PFAS concentrations 250 times above EU limits, according to a review of US Department of Defense data by Danish newspaper Politiken.

Measurements recorded PFOS—a type of PFAS—at 1,100 nanograms per liter, said Anders Baun, a professor at the Technical University of Denmark. “There is no way to explain away that these concentrations are far too high,” he told the paper.

PFAS refers to a group of thousands of fluorine-containing compounds, some of which are suspected by Danish authorities of being hormone-disrupting and carcinogenic. The substances are highly persistent in the environment.

Baun suggested the contamination likely stems from the US military’s long-term use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam during exercises. Greenlandic environmental authorities told Politiken they had not been officially informed of PFAS use at the base but assumed it had occurred, as such foams were widely used internationally.

In 2017, reports indicated that nearly all US military bases had phased out PFAS-containing firefighting foam, but Pituffik was among the few exceptions. Politiken requested clarification from the US military on when the base switched to PFAS-free alternatives but received no response. An unnamed source at the base said replacement foam arrived “a couple of years ago.”

Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, is currently the only US military installation in Greenland, located on the island’s northwest coast. Historically, the US operated 17 such bases in Greenland.