The Norwegian Food Safety Authority warns the population in the area not to eat reindeer meat more than two times a week if the reindeer comes from the Svanvik and Jarfjord areas. The restrictions are due to high levels of PCB and dioxins.
The fallout report was presented by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authorities, and the details can be found in the online report.
Several of the heavy metals found in the area, like cadmium, arsenic and lead are poisonous even in very small concentrations.
The pollution of sulphur dioxide (SO2) from the nickel plant in Nikel is four to five times higher than the total emission from all SO2 sources in Norway. At the roasting plant in Zapolyarny and the smelter in Nikel the total emission of sulphur dioxide (SO2) was near 100 thousand tons in 2008.
Director of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authorities, Ellen Hambro, says it is very unfortunate that the pollution from the smelter in Nikel continues. - While waiting for the problem to be solved we need to measure and document the pollution and its consequences, says Hambro.
