Chemical PFAS

Contaminated wild boar: compensation for hunters

Wild boar in 81 hunting areas are contaminated with PFAS.

(Bild: P. Huber)

After contamination with PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) was detected in wild boar in the Innviertel and Kobernaußerwald in Upper Austria, hunters will now receive compensation from the alleged polluter, the Gendorf Chemical Park in the district of Altötting in Bavaria. 

An agreement to this effect was signed on Tuesday, announced Upper Austrian Agriculture Minister Michaela Langer-Weninger (ÖVP) on Wednesday.

81 hunting grounds in Upper Austria affected
Because wild boar in Bavaria near the state border were contaminated with PFAS, the veterinary service of the state of Upper Austria had carried out screenings last year and also found elevated levels in the meat and liver of the animals. As a result, the venison could no longer be put into circulation and had to be disposed of. 81 hunting areas in the Braunau district and the Kobernaußerwald region (Ried and Vöcklabruck districts) are affected.

Chemical park as the source
The Gendorf Chemical Park was identified as the source, where perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, the most common PFAS substance group) was produced from 1968 to 2003. The current chemical park operator Dyneon has also acknowledged this and agreed to compensation payments. They are the same as those paid in Bavaria and amount to 110 euros per young animal or 220 euros for an adult wild boar. The agreement applies retroactively from the beginning of the year and will initially run until the end of 2025. Negotiations on a follow-up regulation are to be initiated within this period.

The compensation will keep hunters' motivation high to regulate the wild boar population and thus counteract the introduction of African swine fever.

Michaela Langer-Weninger (ÖVP), Agrarlandesrätin

270 animals killed per year
It is assumed that, under normal circumstances, around 270 animals are shot in the affected hunting areas each year, the majority of them young animals. "By compensating for the damage, the hunters' motivation to regulate the wild boar population and thus counteract the introduction of African swine fever remains high," hopes Langer-Weninger, who believes it is important that the hunters "are not innocent bystanders". And the agricultural department emphasizes that no contamination of agricultural soils has been detected during regular sampling in the region. However, PFAS does accumulate in forest soil, and as wild boars rummage through it in search of food, they are particularly affected.

Ingestion via food
PFAS have been used in a wide variety of industries for decades. For example, the chemical is used to coat outdoor clothing, in ski wax and baking paper, but also in the automotive industry and electronics. People absorb PFAS primarily through food, where these substances can be detected most frequently in fish, fruit and eggs as well as in drinking water. PFAS bind to proteins in the blood after ingestion and are only excreted extremely slowly in humans, which leads to an accumulation in the body. This is why the substances are often referred to as "eternal chemicals".