Letter from the FRAM Management Team
Dear all,
We initially discussed whether we should indeed produce this issue at
this point in time, while we all struggle to navigate the Corona-induced
anxiety and changes in our daily lives. In the end, we decided to go forward
and, hopefully, the newsletter provides a small dose of urgently needed
normalcy.
We also need to remember that the world behind Covid-19 still
continues to spin. Sweden, for example, has just past its country overshoot day
on the 2nd of April, which is the day in which all the earth's annual resources
would have been completely spent, if everybody would use as many resources as
the average Swede. Obviously, there are also other curves that we urgently need
to flatten.
Unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals, e.g. to immunosuppressive
perfluorinated compounds such as PFOA and PFOS, are taking a toll on our health
- which in turn impacts our ability to cope with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. On the
other hand, chemical disinfectants such as quaternary ammonium compounds are
absolutely vital to disinfect for example hard surfaces in and around
hospitals.
Then again, the very same chemicals become a public health hazard if
indiscriminately sprayed in public places or even onto people. These and other examples go a long way
to show that, even in times of Corona, we need to continue to work towards
sound and science-driven chemical risk assessment and management.
Best wishes and stay safe!
Thomas
Backhaus, Jessica Coria and Åsa Arrhenius
