In Veneto, in the water that many people from Vicenza drank for years, there were too high levels of Pfas, carcinogenic substances. The Miteni company is accused.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Environmental disaster in Veneto. For years theMiteni chemical company of Trissino, in the province of Vicenza, would have spilled into the surrounding aquifers perfluoroalkyl substances (Pfas), notes like carcinogenic for man.
A year ago a dossier onPfas polluting it had been opened by the Vicenza Public Prosecutor's Office, but was in danger of being filed because the offending substances - used in this case to waterproof pots and fabrics - were not included in the table of those evaluated as polluting. Last week, however, Luigi di Maio, five-star vice president of the Chamber, presented a new exhibited with the assumption that Pfas have been included in the table as implemented by European regulations. In this way, the same dossier is updated and could become more voluminous if the results of the biomonitoring carried out by the Region with the Higher Institute of Health are added.
From the biomonitoring it emerged that "significantly higher" concentrations were found in the blood of 507 Venetians exposed to groundwater pollution by perfluoroalkyl substances (Pfas) compared to the rest of the population, so much so that now a maxi-health campaign dedicated to 250 residents in the provinces of Vicenza, Verona and Padua will start.
The announcement was made Wednesday in Venice, following a meeting between the Region, ISS and representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO). The Veneto Region has thus launched two lines of surveillance: environmental e .. On the environmental front, the experts have safe drinking water through activated carbon filters, promoting in 2014 the mapping of private wells for drinking use. As for the health of the citizens involved, a population serological monitoring and an epidemiological study which will last 10 years and which will begin with the 60 people most exposed to toxic substances.
Contaminated water, the tests
For the investigations, 257 residents were enrolled in high-impact centers (Montecchio Maggiore, Lonigo, Brendola, Creazzo, Altavilla Vicentina, Sovizzo and Sarego), 250 inhabitants in localities chosen for comparison (Mozzecane, Dueville, Carmignano, Fontaniva, Loreggia, Resana and Treviso) and 120 employees of livestock farms. The search for about 12 biomarkers, belonging to the Pfas family, ended with greater results in the sample of municipalities with greater impact than those of comparison (with a ratio of 10 to 1) and, in the area most at risk, with most relevant outcomes in the USL territory 5, the one where the Miteni plant is located, with respect to the Local Health Authority 6.
I Pfas they bind to plasma and liver proteins and are eliminated by the kidneys but very slowly: among the consequences of their high concentration in the blood there are high cholesterol, hypertension, altered glucose levels, effects on the kidneys, thyroid diseases and, in the most exposed subjects, testicular and kidney cancer.
And the company?
Meanwhile, Miteni relieves himself of all responsibility and specifies in a note that “the presence of Pfas in the vast area cannot be due to the water table of the Miteni plant. Such a vast area must necessarily refer to the system of consortium discharges to which hundreds of local companies are connected ".
Furthermore, Miteni declares that it has no longer produced Pfos and Pfoa since 2011, and even before that, the wastewater from the processing was sent to external treatment systems. “Pfos and Pfoa are still used today by over two hundred tanning and manufacturing industries in the area who buy them on the foreign market, companies that are connected to the same consortium drains to which Miteni is connected. The water leaving the Trissino plant is under constant control, treated with systems that fully comply with the indications of the Consortium without ever exceeding the required limits. The company has also invested over 15 million euros in water treatment and environmental interventions in recent years ".
This is the position of the company. The usual downloadable, but we, between Miteni and the thousands of tanneries present there, cannot blame anyone. The only thing we hope will soon be whoever is responsible will implement important actions once and for all to put legal limits on the discharges of polluting waters into the environment, also to protect the population. And make the culprits of this latest environmental disaster pay the right price.
UPDATE OF 21 FEBRUARY 2017
From the Press Office of theMiteni company di Trissino let us know the following:
“We want to confirm to the president Luca Zaia that Miteni will continue to collaborate with the institutions for any further investigation or assessment regarding the characterization of the land. Since 2014 the company has carried out, under the supervision and indication of Arpa Veneto, over 70 cores to analyze the soil of the plant and another 16 cores outside the plant according to an evaluation plan shared with the regional agency. We are at the complete disposal of the environmental and control bodies for full access to our land in the spirit of collaboration that we reaffirm ".
Germana Carillo
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