2023-02-23
EUROPE - More than 17.000 sites all over Europe are contaminated by the “forever chemical” PFAS, an exclusive, monthslong investigation from 18 European newsrooms shows. The investigation “The Forever Pollution Project” reveals an additional 22.000 presumptive contamination sites due to current or past industrial activity. The contamination revealed by this project spreads all over Europe.
In early February 2023, the European Chemicals Agency ECHA published a ban proposal on all PFAS – or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. “The Forever Pollution Project” can now reveal that there is way more contamination all over Europe than has been publicly known. The journalists gathered 100 datasets and filed dozens of FOIA requests to build a first-of-its-kind map of PFAS contamination in Europe.
The project shows that there are 20 manufacturing facilities and more than 2.300 sites in Europe that can be considered PFAS hotspots – places where contamination reaches levels considered to be hazardous to the health of people exposed to them. The problem: It’s extremely expensive to get rid of these chemicals, once they have found their way into the environment. The cost of remediation will likely reach the tens of billions of Euros. In several places, the authorities have already given up and decided to keep the toxic chemicals in the ground, because it’s not possible to clean them up.
Photo credit: Thomas Steffen - Le Monde
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€42.850 granted dd. 23/02/2022ID
ENV1/2022/044Grant
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PROJECT WEBSITE
- Forever Pollution Project, 23 February 2023
ONLINE
- 'Forever pollution': Explore the map of Europe's PFAS contamination, Le Monde, 23 February 2023
- 'Forever chemicals': The key public health issue of defining an 'acceptable' threshold, Le Monde, 23 February 2023
- « Polluants éternels » : comment « Le Monde » a suivi la trace des PFAS à travers l’Europe, Le Monde, 23 February 2023
- « Polluants éternels » : quels sont les effets des PFAS sur la santé ?, Le Monde, 23 February 2023
- « Polluants éternels » : explorez la carte d’Europe de la contamination par les PFAS, Le Monde, 23 February 2023
- PFAS - the poison of the century, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 23 February 2023
- PFAS - Die dunkle Seite der Wärmepumpe, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 23 February 2023
- PFAS - Die ausführliche Methodik der Recherche, Süddeutsche Zeiting, 23 February 2023
- „Sie können sich schon mal von Ihrem Mobiltelefon verabschieden“, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 23 February 2023
- Alles Wissenswerte über PFAS, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 23 February 2023
- Buncefield: the PFAS legacy of ‘biggest fire in peacetime Europe’, The Guardian, 23 February 2023
- Revealed: scale of ‘forever chemical’ pollution across UK and Europe, The Guardian, 23 February 2023
- What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed?, The Guardian, 23 February 2023
- Toxic substances from chemicals firm site found polluting protected river, The Guardian, 24 February 2023
- Wie Bayer, BASF & Co für PFAS lobbyieren, tagesschau, 23 February 2023
- Wo PFAS überall Deutschland verschmutzen, tagesschau, 23 February 2023
- Perfluorované látky: příčina otrav a úmrtí, o které se dosud nemluvilo, Deník Referendum, 23 February 2023
- Langzaam begint Europa in te zien hoe groot het PFAS-gevaar is, NRC, 23 February 2023
- Het chemisch gevaar dat boven Dordtse hoofden hangt, NRC, 27 February 2023
- 'Forever chemicals': In France, nearly 1,000 PFAS-contaminated sites are largely ignored, Le Monde, 24 February 2023
- « Polluants éternels » : en France, près de 1 000 sites contaminés largement ignorés, Le Monde, 24 February 2023
- Rumilly, France: The 'world capital of the frying pan' and a 'forever chemical' hotspot Le Monde, 24 February 2023
- Rumilly, « capitale mondiale de la poêle » et hot spot de la « pollution éternelle » aux PFAS, Le Monde, 24 February 2023
- ‘Forever chemicals’ mean England’s waters will miss pollution targets for decades, The Guardian, 24 February 2023
- Toxic substances from chemicals firm site found polluting protected river, The Guardian, 24 February 2023
- 'Forever pollution': Explore the map of Europe's PFAS contamination, Le Monde, 23 February 2023
- Eine Verbindung für die Ewigkeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 24 February 2023
- Karte der ewigen Belastungen: Hier sind PFAS zu finden, SRF, 24 February 2023
- NRW: Gift PFAS in offenbar mehr Orten als bisher bekannt, WDR, 23 February 2023
- PFAS-Chemikalien: So erkennen Sie die giftigen Stoffe in Alltagsprodukten, WDR, 23 February 2023
- UK risks falling behind Europe in controlling ‘forever chemicals’, The Guardian, 25 February 2023
PODCAST/RADIO
- Forever PFAS - Landkarte des Gifts, Tagesschau, 23 February 2023
- Kartta näyttää, missä Suomessa on havaittu ikuisia kemikaaleja – paistinpannuista ja goretexista tutut aineet terveydelle haitallisia, Yleisradio, 23 February 2023
TELEVISION
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Jahrhundertgift PFAS: Wie verseucht ist Deutschland?, Panorama (Das Erste), 23 Febraury 2023
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