According to sources, the high-ranking municipal politician Andreas Åström (M) in Upplands-Bro had several roles in the process when the noise barrier began construction in 2019. He is now chairman of the municipality's technical committee and had a central role in the barrier's construction. Andreas Åström called the masses 'virgin,' meaning untouched natural material.
However, neighbors have found everything from iron scrap, Coca-Cola cans to cement and bricks in the masses of the noise barrier. Upplands-Bro hired the environmental consulting company Geoveta in 2023 to sample and conduct an extensive investigation of the barrier. Tests showed that parts of the masses contained substances such as lead, barium, and PCB.
It does not pose any health risk.
There are still major uncertainties today because the entire barrier has not been tested. The police investigated an environmental crime in 2024 due to uncertainties about the barrier's content. The preliminary investigation was dropped last year because the statute of limitations for the suspected crime had expired.
Caroline Agrillo, a doctoral student at Uppsala University, and Joëlle Rüegg, a professor in environmental toxicology at Uppsala University, were asked by the police to review the case from a toxicological perspective. Ida Texell, municipal director in Upplands-Bro, claims the barrier is risk-free. "It does not pose any health risk," said Ida Texell.
It is more or less impossible to say that it is definitely risk-free.
" Whether residents near the barrier have elevated levels of harmful substances in their bodies remains unknown. The specific roles Andreas Åström played in the barrier's construction process are also unclear.
We do not know exactly what is in all places, and it could be that some people have a higher exposure to something we don't even know about.
If you want to be sure that it really is not a risk, you must test whether those who live there have elevated levels.