FIS and fluoro ban - Devon Kershaw with Zach Caldwell

[Primoz]

I just got IBUs press release yesterday, and it looks like it's happening for real next season. IBU is banning all fluoro stuff in 2022/2023 season.

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) announced today that it will implement a full ban of ski preparation products containing fluor at all its event series from the 2022/2023 season onwards.
The IBU committed to banning flour products used in ski preparation in 2020 based on the apparent health risks and environmental concerns connected to fluorine waxes. Working with Bruker, a leading manufacturer of high-performance scientific instruments, while maintaining a close collaboration with the International Ski Federation (FIS) through a joint working group, the IBU has developed an effective testing method using the Alpha II device. The device provides reliable testing to ensure fluor-free biathlon competitions. IBU will test to ensure that skis are fluor-free at each IBU event, guaranteeing the integrity of competitions and a level playing field.

Obviously they figured out how to properly detect it, if we should believe their press release, and they are going to use slightly different device then @cantunamunch posted above (https://www.bruker.com/en/products-...eter/alpha-ii-compact-ft-ir-spectrometer.html).
No info yet as far as FIS is concerned, but considering they didn't manage to put out even provisional World cup calendar for next season yet, I doubt these sort of things are high enough on their priority list to bother with them before middle of October.

 

[snwbrdr]

I just got IBUs press release yesterday, and it looks like it's happening for real next season. IBU is banning all fluoro stuff in 2022/2023 season.

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) announced today that it will implement a full ban of ski preparation products containing fluor at all its event series from the 2022/2023 season onwards.
The IBU committed to banning flour products used in ski preparation in 2020 based on the apparent health risks and environmental concerns connected to fluorine waxes. Working with Bruker, a leading manufacturer of high-performance scientific instruments, while maintaining a close collaboration with the International Ski Federation (FIS) through a joint working group, the IBU has developed an effective testing method using the Alpha II device. The device provides reliable testing to ensure fluor-free biathlon competitions. IBU will test to ensure that skis are fluor-free at each IBU event, guaranteeing the integrity of competitions and a level playing field.

Obviously they figured out how to properly detect it, if we should believe their press release, and they are going to use slightly different device then @cantunamunch posted above (https://www.bruker.com/en/products-...eter/alpha-ii-compact-ft-ir-spectrometer.html).
No info yet as far as FIS is concerned, but considering they didn't manage to put out even provisional World cup calendar for next season yet, I doubt these sort of things are high enough on their priority list to bother with them before middle of October.

So, the IBU is enforcing gluten free products in ski preparation?

The power of misplacing the "U" and forgetting an "O" in Fluoro

 

[cantunamunch]

The power of misplacing the "U" and forgetting an "O" in Fluoro

They wave their Austrian umlauts at redundant Anglo "o"s

 

[Primoz]

Based on info I have, FIS should join IBU, but nothing official yet. More should be known after FIS congress sometime in June, but if that will be too early for new gentlemen in FIS leadership, I'm sure they will decide at least day or two before first race in Soelden, which should give enough time to everyone involved to handle this thing
PS: No idea about IBU gluten free products, but based on that, it looks like this. I just copied their press release, and as most of their guys are Austrian or German, they can be somehow excused. At least for myself I can say I'm last person who should be making jokes about someone's English, as mine is anything but good.

 

[Tom K.]

I just got IBUs press release yesterday, and it looks like it's happening for real next season. IBU is banning all fluoro stuff in 2022/2023 season.

Next season, there will be a switch to pellet guns to eliminate gunpowder residue.

 

[cantunamunch]

Next season, there will be a switch to pellet guns to eliminate gunpowder residue.

You know, I always wondered about fluorinated oxidizers in hand loads.

 

[Primoz]

Few new(er) things about this fluoro ban. This is obviously going to be pretty shitty disaster. FIS is going to publish official fluoro ban on their congress in few weeks, but IBU already did this, and well... obviously these machines are not all that great as they think/though, and can be really easily fooled, so you can easily get away with full fluoro program on your skis. Or on the other side, fail test with some of new waxes certain company have and have absolutely no fluoro in it, yet it blinks red when tested. FIS and IBU made some tests lately with several teams (xc and biathlon only), and while noone from FIS or IBU wants to comment on anything, there's plenty of rumors from teams, that it's super easy to use fluoro and get away with testing. And if they didn't managed to get it straight in 3 years, I doubt they will manage to fix everything in 3 months. Not to mention each machine is about 50k eur, and with ban in place you need to have it on every single race under FIS/IBU program, yeah that means also local kids race as long as it's FIS/IBU race, not just World cup race. Already super expensive things will just get even more expensive.

 

[jt10000]

Not to mention each machine is about 50k eur, and with ban in place you need to have it on every single race under FIS/IBU program, yeah that means also local kids race as long as it's FIS/IBU race, not just World cup race. Already super expensive things will just get even more expensive.

Uggh.

 

[Primoz]

I just got IBUs press release yesterday, and it looks like it's happening for real next season. IBU is banning all fluoro stuff in 2022/2023 season.

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) announced today that it will implement a full ban of ski preparation products containing fluor at all its event series from the 2022/2023 season onwards.
The IBU committed to banning flour products used in ski preparation in 2020 based on the apparent health risks and environmental concerns connected to fluorine waxes. Working with Bruker, a leading manufacturer of high-performance scientific instruments, while maintaining a close collaboration with the International Ski Federation (FIS) through a joint working group, the IBU has developed an effective testing method using the Alpha II device. The device provides reliable testing to ensure fluor-free biathlon competitions. IBU will test to ensure that skis are fluor-free at each IBU event, guaranteeing the integrity of competitions and a level playing field.

Obviously they figured out how to properly detect it, if we should believe their press release, and they are going to use slightly different device then @cantunamunch posted above (https://www.bruker.com/en/products-...eter/alpha-ii-compact-ft-ir-spectrometer.html).
No info yet as far as FIS is concerned, but considering they didn't manage to put out even provisional World cup calendar for next season yet, I doubt these sort of things are high enough on their priority list to bother with them before middle of October.

Looks like they were a bit too fast with this announcement, as they changed it today, and postpone full fluoro ban to 2023/24 season Looks like all the tests, where guys fooled these devices in notime, using full fluoro program with some coverup and testing ok, while on the other side plenty of new stuff, which was indeed fluoro free tested as fluoro wax, made them think at least a bit. I guess FIS will, as usual in this, follow in month or two, just on time for season start

The IBU today announced that a full fluor wax ban will be postponed to the 2023/2024 season in order to allow time for further refinement of the fluor testing device and of procedures to protect the integrity of biathlon competitions.

Extensive testing of the fluor detection device, together with experts from National Federations and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), led to the conclusion that more time was needed to check new fluor-free waxes to provide accurate results. Testing of new products is ongoing.

 

[cantunamunch]

Looks like they were a bit too fast with this announcement, as they changed it today, and postpone full fluoro ban to 2023/24 season Looks like all the tests, where guys fooled these devices in notime, using full fluoro program with some coverup and testing ok, while on the other side plenty of new stuff, which was indeed fluoro free tested as fluoro wax, made them think at least a bit. I guess FIS will, as usual in this, follow in month or two, just on time for season start

If they had intentionally tried to block supply to the consumer public without banning fluoro to racers they could not have done a better job.

 

[Primoz]

Hahaha almost to the date, just a year later, another IBU press release, which I assume will be followed by similar FIS press release in few weeks, which I guess, will be followed by another press release later on (August, September or October) telling that they were just joking, and "gentlemen's agreement" (which noone gives a shit about, and everyone are still on full fluoro, c8 included, program) stays for another season, while real testing will be postponed for another year (or decade).
I'm not sure if someone just changed the date of previous press releases and sent it out again this year, as it's almost exactly same as all previous ones.

22 MARCH 2023

IBU implements full fluor ban ​ The International Biathlon Union (IBU) announced today that it will implement a full ban of ski preparation products containing fluor at all its event series from the 2023/2024 season onwards. The IBU committed to banning fluor products used in ski preparation in 2020 based on the apparent health risks and environmental concerns connected to fluorine waxes. Working with Bruker, a leading manufacturer of high-performance scientific instruments, while maintaining a close collaboration with the International Ski Federation (FIS) through a joint working group, the IBU has developed an effective testing method using the Alpha II device. The device provides reliable testing to ensure fluor-free biathlon competitions. IBU will test to ensure that skis are fluor-free at each IBU event, guaranteeing the integrity of competitions and a level playing field. The IBU held joined tests of the device with its National Federations (NFs) and industry representatives at 15 IBU events, as well as 3 sessions during spring and summer. A full procedure test was conducted successfully during the WC in Östersund and final meetings with Technicians and the IBU Athletes Committee were held at the World Cup final in Oslo, Norway. More tests and education seminars are planned for NFs, their teams and technicians, and for partners from the industry well before the season starts. More information about the testing procedures on-site at competitions and about the integration into the IBU Event and Competition Rules will be communicated in due course.

 

[jconlin1]

FIS to fully implement fluor wax ban at start of 2023-24 season.

That's the headline of a page on the fis-ski.com website that I bumped into while searching for info about fluors for next season. The page is attached as a pdf.

The wording of this announcement is similar in parts to the IBU announcement and has the same date of March 22, 2023. But the link to the page makes it look like the article was saved to a folder pertaining to 2022 - https://www.fis-ski.com/en/international-ski-federation/news-multimedia/news-2022/fis-to-fully-implement-fluor-wax-ban-at-start-of-2023-24-season

Anyway, I'm a first-time poster and don't have any great point to make. Just passing this along as it seemed germane to the post above by Primoz.

 

[jt10000]

It appears pure fluoros used in nordic racing can show up in the nearby water supply.

From "Where Do All the Fluoros Go? The Ins and Outs of Skiing’s PFAs Problem."

So, props to Skylar, after she raced, she changed out of her race suit and went right back out to take snow samples. We took samples right at the start, sampled at different points on the lapped course, so 100m, 1 k into the course, and 3.9 k (which is a hill on the course), and then collected snow that wasn’t on course to hopefully act as a negative control ((how much fluoro was detected there could be measured against the detection on course). We also sample water in the actual supplies at Quarry Road, which is a shallow groundwater well, and then run-off to Messalonskee Stream, which sits at the bottom of the ridge that Quarry Road is built into.

We found the most concerning stuff in those last two sampling sites, because they showed measurable amounts of PFAs in the sources of water that touch Quarry Road which are part of the municipal water supply. There were enormous quantities of snow contamination pretty much all the way around the course from the start line to the very last hill.