Publication - 14 November, 2016
The manufacture of hazardous per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) is leading
to contamination of the local environment, including surface water, drinking water, groundwater as well as air and dust.
There is evidence of a recent and/or historical PFC pollution in four locations around the world where chemical companies manufacture PFCs, including those used in PTFE, also known as Teflon – in the mid-Ohio valley, USA; in Dordrecht, the Netherlands and Veneto region, Italy in Europe; and in Shandong Province, China.
In the USA and Europe, pollution problems have been building up since as long ago as the 1950's, when PFC production started, dominated by the production of the PFCs PFOS and PFOA – now known to be highly persistent and toxic.
A global ban on PFOS and increasing restrictions on PFOA mean their manufacture in the USA and Europe has now been stopped, although the manufacture of other PFCs, which are also potentially problematic, continues. However, global production of PFOA to make PTFE (Teflon) has now shifted to China, where the same pattern of pollution is now being replicated.
This report was produced by Greenpeace Italy and is available in English below.
PFC pollution hotspots: how these chemicals are entering our bodies