Natural Hazards coordinator with the Icelandic Meteorological Office Kristín Jónsdóttir stated on Twitter that visitors to the eruption site in Geldingadalir on the Reykjanes Peninsula should leave their dogs at home as they were in danger of fluoride poisoning.
“Leave your dogs at home! Geochemical measurements show that there is fluoride and high PH-values in water puddles close to the #Geldingadalir eruption site,” states Kristín. In addition to the danger of dogs drinking water that might make them sick, visiting an active volcanic eruption has other obvious dangers. The flow of the lava can be unpredictable and toxic gases emitted by the eruption can be life-threatening.
Leave your dogs at home! Geochemical measurements show that there is fluoride and high PH-values in water puddles close to the #Geldingadalir eruption site.#Naturalhazards#Volcanomonitoring#dogsoftwitter pic.twitter.com/YNJiz8cUgg
— Kristín Jónsdóttir (@krjonsdottir) March 25, 2021
Finally, Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason urges caution when visiting the eruption site due to the recent uptick in COVID-19 infections. According to a counter set up on the hiking path to the eruption, thousands of people have already visited the eruption site. Þórólfur told Fréttablaðið this was a cause for some concern as a person recently tested positive for the virus, out of quarantine after spending time at the eruption site.
