A fetid and possibly “toxic” layer of foam has been spreading across the municipality of Mosquera, just outside of Colombia’s capital city, Bogota. Large clouds of foam have been spotted rising from the river’s surface and fluttering throughout the town, sticking to everything it rests on. The foam is a mix of chemical surfactant discharges from industry and homes in the town’s waterways. Turbulence rises when the river runs beneath rivers or through canals, which might result in foam if the correct chemicals are present in the water. Although the scent is not new, the wet season appears to have aggravated it.
The problem of garbage and detergents in the River Bojaca is being exacerbated by the rainy season and plant matter in the water, according to the town’s mayor, Gian Gerometta. Despite concerns that the foam was poisonous, Gerometta clarified in a Twitter thread that no harm to public health had been discovered. “We have watched and accompanied the Los Puentes sector with the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Health, the Risk Management Directorate, the Municipal Personera, the Regional Autonomous Corporation (@CAR Cundi), and the Fire Department,” he stated.
“A team from the Ministry of Health discovered that this environmental condition had no adverse consequences on the population.” Residents, on the other hand, have begun to use inhalers to combat the “fetid stench” emanating from the foam. Officials from the town also acknowledged that removing certain plants from the riverbed might minimize river turbulence, lowering the risk of foam formation.
It’s said that detergents discharged in a nearby river are responsible for the froth that floats in the air, clumping and clinging to Mosquera’s buildings. “The stench is dreadful; we’ve had to put up with it for a long time,” resident Luz Mariela Diaz told the AFP news agency. “Now, with this large foam, we’re concerned we’ll be in danger; God forbid someone falls in there, we won’t be able to locate them.” Claudia Esperanza Garzon, another local lady, told Reuters she had to use an inhaler due to the foam’s effect on her lungs.
