Pfas, un disastro annunciato. Chi ha avvelenato l’Italia

“Forever chemicals”: chemical compounds that cannot be broken down and last forever. This is how PFAS are defined – a family of around 4,000 compounds found all over the world and present in countless everyday items: Teflon-coated pans, clothing, packaging and cosmetics. Detected in the River Po as well as on Monte Rosa, PFAS pollution is a reality that can no longer be underestimated. An investigation launched in Vicenza is finally bringing to light the true scale of this disaster in Italy, which is becoming increasingly evident day by day as revelations about criminal aspects intertwine with growing concerns for public health. This was made official in June 2025 with the first convictions of the industrial executives involved in the investigation, accused of water poisoning and willful environmental disaster. Laura Fazzini, who has been working for years on documenting and raising awareness about PFAS contamination, reconstructs the entire story in this book with great rigor and clarity, always placing the men and women who were at the heart of it center stage. Whether engaged in science or research, protest or – even more painfully – as citizens victimized by pollutants, in every chapter the reader encounters their faces and their stories. The investigation by the Court of Vicenza has given a voice to the victims and named the culprits, but it is only through a new awareness on the part of institutions, companies and citizens that a way can be found to stem this and other future environmental disasters.