14 images Created 22 Apr 2020
MAMME NO PFAS (No Pfas Moms)
The story is focused on the environmental disaster caused by a pollution of pfas in some provinces of Veneto, a region of northern Italy. Responsible for the disaster is the Miteni, a factory, now closed, which with its discharges has contaminated the second largest aquifer in Europe, which supplies drinking water to more than 200,000 people.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are persistent synthetic compounds used in a variety of industrial and consumer product applications including non-stick cookware and firefighting foams. The presence of PFAS compounds in source water and drinking water in a lot of comunities around the world is of increasing public concern due to their widespread use and environmental persistence.
Since December 2016, the government of the Veneto region has invited about 90,000 people from the contaminated area to a blood test. Sixty-five percent of the sample showed a very high level of pfas in the blood. Mass screening was decided after a document from the government of the region reported significant “mortality excesses“for ischemic heart disease, famous vascular diseases, diabetes, and alzheimer’s.
According to Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, some studies have shown that long chain PFAS like PFOA and PFOS may cause developmental effects in infants, lower a woman’s chance of getting pregnant, increase a woman’s blood pressure during pregnancy, lower infant birth weights, interfere with the body’s natural hormones, increase cholesterol levels, affect the immune system, increase the risk of cancer…
Since 2017 a group of women in the area, concerned for the health of their children, organize and take to the streets over ten thousand people: the movement “Mamme No Pfas” (No Pfas Moms), who fights for the right to clean water for the health and well-being of all.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are persistent synthetic compounds used in a variety of industrial and consumer product applications including non-stick cookware and firefighting foams. The presence of PFAS compounds in source water and drinking water in a lot of comunities around the world is of increasing public concern due to their widespread use and environmental persistence.
Since December 2016, the government of the Veneto region has invited about 90,000 people from the contaminated area to a blood test. Sixty-five percent of the sample showed a very high level of pfas in the blood. Mass screening was decided after a document from the government of the region reported significant “mortality excesses“for ischemic heart disease, famous vascular diseases, diabetes, and alzheimer’s.
According to Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, some studies have shown that long chain PFAS like PFOA and PFOS may cause developmental effects in infants, lower a woman’s chance of getting pregnant, increase a woman’s blood pressure during pregnancy, lower infant birth weights, interfere with the body’s natural hormones, increase cholesterol levels, affect the immune system, increase the risk of cancer…
Since 2017 a group of women in the area, concerned for the health of their children, organize and take to the streets over ten thousand people: the movement “Mamme No Pfas” (No Pfas Moms), who fights for the right to clean water for the health and well-being of all.
