«No alarm, controlled and safe»

Introduced to the global market in the middle of the last century, they have found wide application because water repellent, stable and resistant to high temperatures. Once dispersed in nature, however, they are extremely resistant, so much so that they have also been defined “eternal pollutants”. I PFAS – English acronym of PerFluorinated Alkylated Substances – they are in fact perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyd substances, which contain at least one carbon atom. A new investigation by Greenpeace Italia has also shown their presence in Lombard waters intended for human consumption. With consequent health problems. The study was 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: of the approximately 4 thousand samples analysed by the bodies in charge between 2018 and 2022, about 19% of the total (equal to 738 samples) tested positive for the presence of PFAS. «A pollution that risks being greatly underestimated, if we consider that the analyzes conducted so far are partial and non-capillary. It can therefore be said with certainty that there are thousands of Lombard citizens who, since 2018, have unknowingly drunk water containing PFAS, also used for cooking or irrigating fields and gardens», explains Greenpeace Italia (at this link it is possible to consult all the reports analysis that Greenpeace Italy has received from water managers and ATS in the context of this investigation).

HISTORY AND COSTS – «The investigation conducted in Lombardy reveals the existence of an environmental and health emergency out of control», explains al Courier Giuseppe Ungherese, campaign manager Pollution by Greenpeace Italy. «From cosmetics to waterproof clothing, from non-stick frying pans to paper packaging, PFAS are a large group of synthetic chemicals – according to some there are over 10 thousand – used since the 1940s in various industrial sectors. One of the very first applications was the manhattan project, what then led to the creation of the atomic bomb. Since then they have been used everywhere, so much so that recent scientific studies tell us that the corresponding planetary limit has been exceeded for these substances. Because they are now found in every corner of the globe: from the polar caps to the mother’s milk of bears, from our food, in the air we breathe and even in the rain. In short, the pollution generated is out of control», he adds, recalling how exposure has been associated with a series of negative effects on health (thyroid problems, liver and immune system damage, obesity, diabetes, high levels of cholesterol, …). «Today we know that, according to the estimates of some Northern European bodies, political inaction has environmental and health costs that can be estimated for all European countries, equal to 52-84 billion euros a year. Costs borne by the community, destined to increase if these substances continue to be used”.

THE SITUATION IN LOMBARDY – Greenpeace Italy has provided one mapping (available on this site) to check the results of the investigations and verify how many samples of water for drinking use do not comply with the more precautionary limit values ​​proposed in other countries such as in United States (13.1%) or those in force in Denmark (13.4%). The negative record is held by province of Lodi, with 84.8% of samples testing positive for the presence of PFAS; they follow the provinces of Bergamo and Como, 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 Milano (where there is also a higher number of analyzes carried out) has the sad record of the highest number of samples in which PFAS were detected (as many as 201), followed by the provinces of Brescia (149) and Bergamo (129). Particular critical issues also emerge in the municipalities of Crema (CR), Crespiatica (LO), Pontirolo Nuovo (BG), Rescaldina (MI) and in the area of ​​Cantù-Mariano Comense (CO). In particular, here is the list of the hundred municipalities in which the highest levels of contamination have been found.

MANAGERS’ REPLY – Tap water can be drunk, except for warnings issued by the local health authorities, because it is controlled. The checks carried out at the bodies managing the water service in Lombardy «clear – however – the field of any type of alarmism on public health. The water that comes out of the taps is not dangerous at all», they guarantee from Water Alliance, the network that unites regional managers. «It is precisely the constant checks carried out by the network of laboratories of the individual network operators that allow us to precisely know the quality of the water. For some time the managers of the water service have been committed to safety and security reduction of PFAS in groundwater which should not be confused with what we drink: before leaving the tap, the water is in fact subjected to a capillary purification process which excludes any harm to health. Drink the tap water peacefully», the managers reiterate, because «in addition to being totally safe, it is a choice that helps save money and reduce plastic consumption». For some time the managers of the water service – declares Giordano Colarullo, general manager of utilitalia (the Federation of Water, Environmental and Energy Companies) – «have brought under control and monitored the presence of PFAS in groundwater. Since the dangerousness of these compounds has been known, the managers have started important investments and ongoing analyzes for test its presence in the groundwater and take the necessary measures to protect citizens. If a law banning the use and production of all PFAS is undoubtedly needed, it is worth reiterating that the quality of tap water in Italy is among the best in Europe. Behind the water that comes out of the tap there is a long process that starts with the collection and continues with the purification, transport, distribution, sewerage and purification, to return it to the environment ready to recirculate. A virtuous example of circular economy, with thousands of daily quality checks and a supply chain that employs over 100,000 people to guarantee citizens safe, ecological and economic water”.

THE POINT OF MM – With reference to the Greenpeace initiative which collected data from the analysis of water samples in Lombardy, «For some years MM Spa has also been continuously detecting the parameters PFOS, PFOA and the sum of other PFAS in its Self-Control Plan, well before these were expressly provided for by law, precisely for prevent any contamination and ensure high quality drinking water. The results of the analyzes in the 335 samples of water intended for human consumption taken in the city of Milan in 2021 and 2022 (results provided to Greenpeace) are absolutely comforting and confirm that the measured values ​​of these substances are absent or far lower than expected by EU Directive 2184 (= 0.1 micrograms liter as “Sum of PFAS”). Milan’s water is therefore controlled and safeand also complies with the strictest European regulations».

THE VENETIAN CASE – Albeit 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 thanks to a CNR-IRSA study. Subsequent investigations would have ascertained the chemical company Miteni of Trissino (VI) – in the meantime bankrupt – which had been producing these chemical compounds since the 1960s as the main person responsible for the contamination. In the judicial field, thirteen of its managers have in the meantime been charged in the a trial by water poisoning and unnamed disaster. The one in Veneto is one of the most serious cases of contamination in Europe, with an area of ​​over 150 square kilometers and the involvement of over 350,000 people. Despite the seriousness of the situation, even today the pollution continues to spread from the Miteni site, given that no real remediation of the contaminated site has ever been carried out.

REQUESTS TO THE REGION AND THE GOVERNMENT – However, it must not be forgotten that in accordance with the most recent scientific evidence, PFAS are considered substances potentially dangerous to human health at any concentration, but used since there is no law prohibiting their production and use in Italy . The only cautionary value is theirs complete absence in water intended for human consumption, in food, soil and air. Greenpeace Italy asks the Lombardy Region to identify all polluting sources, in order to stop pollution at its source and reconvert industrial production who still use these substances. «It is 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 guaranteeing the right of citizens to have clean and uncontaminated water”, explains Ungherese. The Region must, in particular, «make the aqueducts safe by launching a series of capillary controls and promoting an industrial reconversion plan. The best choice is to ensure that the contamination does not get worse, therefore to ban the use of these substances for most of which there are safer alternatives with a lower environmental impact », he points out. “This is an out-of-control environmental and health emergency. Government, Parliament and competent ministries must assume their responsibilities by launching quickly a law banning the use and production of all PFAStogether with the adoption of adequate reclamation measures and the identification of all those responsible for the pollution”.