According to ISPRA data, PFAS contamination is present in 17% of the results obtained from checks carried out by the competent bodies between 2019 and 2022. Pollution from these substances affects all the regions where monitoring was carried out: there are almost 18,000 analyses that tested positive for PFAS.
Where are the highest concentrations?
The percentage of positive PFAS values varies from region to region, also depending on the accuracy of the measurements carried out by the various public bodies.
Basilicata (31%), Veneto (30%) and Liguria (30%) are the regions with the highest percentage of positive analyses compared with the checks carried out between 2019 and 2022.
Six other regions (Lombardy, Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria, Abruzzo, Campania) have a positivity rate above 10% over the period considered.
Veneto is the region with the highest concentrations of PFOA (a molecule that is carcinogenic to humans) and PFOS. “A result that is not surprising,” write the Greenpeace activists, “given that this region has for years been the scene of one of the most serious PFAS contaminations in all of Europe, caused by environmental pollution that also affects the drinking water of several municipalities in the provinces of Vicenza, Verona and Padua.”
The situation in Piedmont is also particularly worrying, where the analyses detected especially high concentrations of PFOA and PFOS in the water bodies affected by discharges from the chemical company Solvay (now Syensqo), the only active PFAS-producing company in Italy.
As regards PFOA, the highest concentrations were found, after Veneto and Piedmont, in Lombardy, followed by Emilia-Romagna and Lazio.
PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) is traditionally used as a waterproof coating for fabrics, leather and paper, and in floor wax, as well as in glass etching, as foam in fire extinguishers and for waterproofing sportswear (Nomex, Gore-Tex).
The substance has been linked by several scientific studies to cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and high cholesterol. A recent study by the EPA and one by the IARC document it as definitely carcinogenic.
To find out more about this topic, go to the article:
A national law against PFAS
“The situation shown by the ISPRA data is serious,” says Greenpeace, “but the reality could be even worse because the data are partial.”
This is why the organisation is calling on citizens to mobilise through a petition that can be signed online, so that a law banning PFAS in Italy too is passed as soon as possible.
We say “in Italy too” because many countries have already moved in this direction.
The United States and several European countries have already adopted strict limits on the use of PFAS, since the chemical industry has found safer alternatives.
France, for example, decided last April to ban the production and sale of non-essential products containing PFAS.
The bill proposed by the Green MP Nicholas Thierry was passed in Parliament with 187 votes in favour (from across the political spectrum) and 5 against. In the country across the Alps, from 1 January 2026, PFAS will be banned in cosmetics, ski wax and the manufacture of clothing – except for professional protective wear. The ban excludes, for now, pots and pans and other kitchen utensils.
To sign the petition online, go to the Greenpeace website:
Greenpeace petition
