The detonation in the Chempark in Leverkusen cost lives and caused a cloud of smoke to rise. An initial pollutant analysis is now available.
Leverkusen – The investigations of the soot and dust residues that fell after the fire in the waste incineration of the Leverkusen Chemical Park in the surrounding residential areas have shown only a low level of pollution, according to the State Environment Agency.
The state office announced that no residues of dioxin or dioxin-like substances were found in the soot particles. With the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) very low values were measured, which fell below the evaluation limits.
The results indicated that the substances involved in the fire incident only had a low dioxin formation potential. The investigation into which other substances were involved in the accident was still ongoing. It is therefore still unclear whether other, previously unknown substances had been entered in the vicinity of the fire site. The state office therefore recommends maintaining the preventive health measures that have been in effect until now.
People should continue to refrain from eating fruit and vegetables from the garden, should not touch contaminated surfaces and should not even clean them themselves. This applies to the affected urban area of Leverkusen and the immediately adjacent areas of the cities of Leichlingen and Opladen. dpa
