Greenpeace: “PFAS in Lombard waters: one sample out of three is positive”
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PFAS (poly and perfluoroalkyl compounds) are also present in Lombard waters intended for human consumption, artificial chemical substances, highly persistent and associated with numerous health problems, including some forms of cancer. This was revealed by a new investigation by the Investigative Unit of Greenpeace Italy, conducted thanks to numerous requests for access to documents (FOIA) addressed to all the ATS (Health Protection Agency) and to the bodies managing drinking water in Lombardy. According to what was obtained by Greenpeace Italia, of the approximately 4,000 samples analyzed by the responsible bodies between 2018 and 2022, approximately 19% of the total (equal to 738 samples) tested positive for the presence of PFAS. A pollution that however risks being greatly underestimated, if one considers that the analyzes conducted so far are partial and non-capillary.
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“The survey conducted in Lombardy reveals the existence of an out-of-control environmental and health emergency that local and national authorities continue to underestimate, despite the fact that PFAS contamination involves thousands of people, often unknowingly exposed to risk “, he declares Joseph Hungarian, responsible for the Pollution campaign of Greenpeace Italy. “We call on the Government, Parliament and relevant ministries to assume their responsibilities by rapidly passing a law banning the use and production of all PFAS, together with the adoption of adequate remediation measures and the identification of all polluters”.
Looking at the provincial data, the highest percentage of contaminated samples concerns the province of Praise, with 84.8% positive for the presence of PFAS; to follow the provinces of Bergamo And How, respectively with 60.6% and 41.2%. The Milan area is in the middle of the table, with a fifth of positive analyses. However, in absolute terms, the province of Milan (where there is also a higher number of analyzes carried out) has the sad record of the largest number of samples in which PFAS were detected (as many as 201), followed by the provinces of Brescia (149) and Bergamo (129). Particular criticalities also emerge in the municipalities of Cream (CR), Crepiatica (THE), New Pontirolo (BG), Warm up (MI) and in the area of Cantu-Mariano Comense (CO).
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Disturbing results also emerged in the city of Milan, where almost one sample out of three was found to be contaminated. Soon, Greenpeace Italia will publish an in-depth analysis on the situation in Milan, with a mapping of the most contaminated areas, details on the districts of the Lombard capital and the respective concentrations of PFAS.
Although alarming, the contaminations found in Lombardy are almost everywhere far lower than those recorded in Veneto in 2013, when the local PFAS emergency was discovered. However, it must not be forgotten that in accordance with the most recent scientific evidence, PFAS are considered substances potentially dangerous for human health at any concentration, therefore the only precautionary value is their complete absence in water intended for human consumption, in food, soil and air.
Greenpeace Italia, together with the publication of the investigation, makes a map available to the community in which it is possible to consult the results of the investigations carried out in the Lombardy municipalities by public bodies. The map allows you to check how many samples of drinking water do not comply with the more conservative limit values in force or proposed in other countries such as Denmark or the United States. Analyzing the results of the samples sent to Greenpeace Italy, it can be seen that part of the water in Lombardy would be considered undrinkable according to the new parameters proposed in the United States (13.1%) or those in force in Denmark (13.4%).
Greenpeace Italy asks the Lombardy Region to identify all polluting sources, in order to stop the pollution at its origin and convert the industrial productions that still use these substances. It is also necessary to launch a regional monitoring plan on the presence of PFAS in drinking water, making the results of the analyzes available to the community, and to guarantee the right of citizens to have clean and uncontaminated water.
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