“The worst European Hotspot for the PFAS” is located in Belgium, in the small town of Zwijndrecht, near Antwerp. There, for 25 years, the American Factory 3M has manufactured the Perfluorooctane (SPFO) sulfonate, one of the oldest substances which is very toxic to health and the environment. In Europe, there are approximately 2,300 other “hotspots” of this type and a total of 23,000 polluted sites. A recent collaborative survey estimates the cost of decontamination at 100 billion euros per year. How is this decontamination carried out in practice? And what is the cost for residents already affected by one of the largest environmental scandals? Alix Le Bourdon, Anna Joris and Dave Keating Report.
Pollution forever: Zwijndrecht, a Belgian city contaminated by the PFAS
“The worst European Hotspot for the PFAS” is located in Belgium, in the small town of Zwijndrecht, near Antwerp. There, for 25 years, the American Factory 3M has manufactured the Perfluorooctane (SPFO) sulfonate, one of the oldest substances which is very toxic to health and the environment. In Europe, there are approximately 2,300 other “hotspots” of this type and a total of 23,000 polluted sites. A recent collaborative survey estimates the cost of decontamination at 100 billion euros per year. How is this decontamination carried out in practice? And what is the cost for residents already affected by one of the largest environmental scandals? Alix Le Bourdon, Anna Joris and Dave Keating Report.
“The worst European Hotspot for the PFAS” is located in Belgium, in the small town of Zwijndrecht, near Antwerp. There, for 25 years, the American Factory 3M has manufactured the Perfluorooctane (SPFO) sulfonate, one of the oldest substances which is very toxic to health and the environment. In Europe, there are approximately 2,300 other “hotspots” of this type and a total of 23,000 polluted sites. A recent collaborative survey estimates the cost of decontamination at 100 billion euros per year. How is this decontamination carried out in practice? And what is the cost for residents already affected by one of the largest environmental scandals? Alix Le Bourdon, Anna Joris and Dave Keating Report.
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