Vídeo: PFAS: substâncias químicas eternas causam alarme em França

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this area in the south of Leon France is known as the chemical Valley and its name is no coincidence chemical and prochemical Industrial Giants have facilities here many of these sites have been classified as presenting the risk of causing major accidents and wearing levels of fifas also known as forever chemicals have been discovered but what are fifas exactly and why are they causing concern not only here but all over Europe This is European stories be and polyur alal substances or pias are a group of thousands of synthetic chemicals and they are everywhere from rain jackets to pizza boxes to guitar strings waterproof makeup and even dental floss pasas are also used to produce technologies that are key for the green and digital transitions such as semiconductors electric car batteries and even wind turbines they are highly resistant and very good at repelling water grease and oil but what makes them so useful also makes them potentially harmful they are called Forever chemicals because they don’t naturally break down in the environment today they can be found in water soil animal feed and even in our blood research conducted across nine European countries found pfas in the blood of teenagers in every single country studied scientific Studies have linked pfas to cancer cardiovascular and thyroid diseases infertility and immune system disorders most Technologies for p treatment used today only serve to remove them from water and they are expensive currently only a few pasas are banned in the European Union but this could change in 2023 five European countries proposed restricting pias on reach the European Union’s chemical regulation the European chemicals agency is now evaluating The Proposal it will then share its opinions with the European commission which together with member states will decide on the [Music] Restriction in France pasas have been making the headlines the National Assembly and Senate recently adopted a bill to ban forever chemicals by 2026 in cosmetics M clothing and ski waxes and here in Leon the greater city conso is taking two giants of the chemical Valley to Kurt the Japanese air conditioning manufacturer dayen and the French Fair marma are word leader in specialty materials such as adhesives and fluorochemicals both groups are accused of releasing massive amounts of forever chemicals Pi benit just as outside of Leon is one of the most affected areas many residents here are concerned tii who’s lived in pi benit for 70 years is one of them a journalist told him about pias in 2021 Ty now heads a citizen group to raise awareness about [Music] them takes us to a veget Garden a plot of land that the chemical manufacturer ARA gave to its workers at the entrance there is no visible indication of the controversy surrounding what is produced in this Garden shows us around we are joined by Fabian also a resident of the chemical Valley in his commune s for high levels of pias were found in drinking water in the Ron Valley the local health authority estimates that around 150,000 people St water is polluted with pasas the state ordered ARA to stop using pasas by end 2024 but this doesn’t solve the issue of those already in the environment I ask fa if they still eat vegetables from the area as for he no longer E Local might be right local authorities and even ARA have advised people not to eat what is produced in this Garden locals are also recommended not to eat eggs here back at tiis I asked him if he thought European institutions could help here’s what he told [Music] [Music] me can we we do without beas in our daily lives and is a ban at the EU level realistic I contacted the European chemicals agency which is currently studying a proposal from five European countries to restrict [Music] pfas we have two independent s of committees and they will evaluate this proposal that we have received from the five count so that’s Germany the Netherlands Sweden Denmark and Norway and they have proposed a ban with use specific and time limited derogations that means that derogations are proposed for users where beas free alternatives are not yet available or suitable or where the societal impacts are significant for example they have proposed a 12-year transition period for implantable medical devices whether it is easy or not to replace the pasas it really depends on the type of use in some uh types of uses it may be rather straightforward because there are alternatives available but in other uses it might be quite complex and maybe the alternatives are not yet available but again that’s all in the proposal and that’s being evaluated by the scientific committee so at this point in time I cannot really give you a final answer on what what the opinions will be and what exactly the period will be but this is what has been considered in The Proposal so it’s not yet clear whether there will be a restriction and what the conditions would be the European commission and the member states will have the final say but if this happens it could be a milestone in European chemicals regulation as it would cover the whole family of Bea substances this would prevent industries from replacing pias with other pias [Music]