00:00These mothers are at a historic protest against a chemical plant that threatens their water, their health and their children's
00:08future.
00:09It spouts forever chemicals, also known as PFAS.
00:15It will pass from a mother's body to her children.
00:20Are we supposed to just stand by and watch our children suffer?
00:26This story of PFAS contamination is part of a global chemical crisis that began thousands of kilometres away in Italy.
00:40From Europe to Asia, this is an ongoing uprising of local communities led by mothers fighting a global problem.
00:50And there are solutions, but before we dive into that, let's get into the chemical core of the scandal, PFAS.
00:58PFAS are a group of over 10,000 chemicals with exceptionally strong carbon fluorine bonds.
01:04They hold together so well that they do difficult jobs, like make clothes water resistant and Teflon cookware handle high
01:12heat.
01:12They're in literally everything from dental floss to fast food packaging and even medical devices.
01:18They can last forever.
01:21So the big problem arises when they are not treated properly and spill into the environment.
01:28PFAS persist in rivers, groundwater and the soil.
01:32They enter animals and even our bodies through drinking water, food or even household dust.
01:38Most people worldwide have PFAS in their blood.
01:42Scientists are still working to understand the long-term impacts.
01:46But even low levels of PFAS have been linked to cancer, hormone disruption, weakened immunity and developmental issues.
01:55These Italian mothers found this out the hard way and have been protesting for years.
02:00Their white t-shirts became their symbol.
02:03They show their children's names and the PFAS levels found in their blood.
02:09Giovanni and Michaela began the movement here.
02:13In 2017, we heard my daughter's blood contained levels of these substances that were among the highest ever recorded worldwide.
02:23The company, Mitaini Chemicals, lay just a few kilometers from their village and its effluents reached it.
02:30Giovanni and her husband didn't know this when they moved here 26 years ago, giving up their city jobs for
02:37what they believed to be a healthy, pollution-free countryside life for their five children.
02:46We realized that we had a bomb, that our children have a bomb inside their bodies that can explode at
02:53any time.
02:53And that, unfortunately, there was nothing we could do.
02:58The discharge of PFAS from the company contaminated the land here all the way to the sea.
03:04The pollution was only publicly uncovered in 2013 when scientists tested the water.
03:11By then, an estimated 350,000 people in the region had been exposed, in some cases for years.
03:18The case triggered a major public health response, including mass blood testing.
03:24A study has since recorded 4,000 excess deaths in the area from diseases including kidney and testicular cancer and
03:31cardiovascular disease.
03:33There was also a causal link to the death of a Mitaini employee from prolonged exposure.
03:40Giovanni had to change life on her organic farm.
03:43She stopped growing fruits and vegetables and had to cull her animals.
03:47The ones that remain are now treated as pets.
03:50At first she was scared, but then she wanted to take action.
03:57Giovanni and Michaela and many other mothers began organizing.
04:04Anger was the first strong emotion.
04:08But coming together as women, as mothers, has softened it.
04:15It's been transformed into a drive to understand the problem and to find solutions together.
04:27They held demonstrations, attended conferences, and eventually filed a lawsuit against the chemical company.
04:35With success.
04:37A court sentenced 11 former company executives to jail for serious environmental crimes.
04:45But then an investigation revealed that the pollution just moved across the globe.
04:49The machinery of the bankrupt Mitaini plant has been transferred to India.
04:55Michaela was able to contact people from the area, including Varun Sukraj.
05:00He comes from the village where Mitaini's machinery is now back in operation.
05:06Here, production continues under the name Lakshmi Organic Industries.
05:11The region hopes to become a new center of chemical production.
05:16Varun began raising awareness in the village.
05:18He told people that when regulation tightens in one place, often production doesn't disappear, it relocates.
05:26Landing on those with the least power to resist.
05:29A video Michaela made went viral among the community here.
05:41We had no idea about PFAS.
05:44When we saw the Italian protest on YouTube and understood the situation there, we researched it.
05:50That's when we realized how toxic this substance being produced really is.
05:59People began organizing.
06:01In April, 3,000 took to the streets to protest.
06:05Their slogan, Mothers of Konkan Refused to Accept PFAS, was inspired by Mama No PFAS in Italy.
06:14Their message is clear.
06:17India cannot host industrial practices rejected elsewhere.
06:20Some have been protesting for over 75 days straight.
06:27I believe this company must be shut down.
06:31And we will not stay quiet until it is.
06:34This mother of Konkan says no to PFAS.
06:39In India there is currently no regulatory framework that bans or governs the production of PFAS.
06:45A gap that has allowed the issue to remain largely invisible in public discourse so far.
06:51But back in Europe, there are scientists working on a different part of this problem.
06:57The Zurich-based start-up, Oxile, has found a way to not just detect and measure PFAS in waste water,
07:03but also destroy the chemicals.
07:06Founder Faye Mushtaq grew up in India.
07:10That always formed a part of my life where we could never take water for granted.
07:14And it also led to a mission in my life where I wanted to do something about water when I
07:19grew up.
07:20My journey into PFAS started much later in life.
07:23It started when I came to Switzerland.
07:25And I realized, even in a country like Switzerland, where the water looks so clean, we have all these invisible
07:31chemicals.
07:32We have PFAS, we have pesticides, pharmaceuticals in water, which should not be in there.
07:37Oxile built a mobile container that can be driven to industrial sites where PFAS are produced, allowing the chemicals to
07:45be eliminated at source before they reach the environment.
07:49Inside the container, water that has been contaminated is pumped into this canister.
07:55UV lights and a special cocktail of chemicals are then added to the water, which breaks down the strong chemical
08:02bonds.
08:03What comes out are harmless end products like water, carbon dioxide and fluoride.
08:08The cleaned up water can then be safely released into nature.
08:14This technology can typically treat a few thousand litres of water per hour, depending on the level of PFAS concentration
08:22and how much energy is used during the process.
08:26This technology that we have is specifically designed so that anyone can afford that.
08:31Where we have different levers we can tune.
08:33We can give them a very quick treatment because they can afford to pay for high energy and bigger space
08:39is the issue, like in Europe.
08:41Or we can also do a much slower treatment with low energy.
08:44This is one part of the solution that can be deployed globally.
08:48But for it to be adopted, awareness and regulatory support are essential to bring it to scale.
08:54They are still only dealing with PFAS already in the environment.
08:58But the protests have brought change.
09:08After the protests this year, PFAS was mentioned on the floor of the Indian Parliament for the first time ever.
09:19Haroon spoke among others at the European Parliament about the proliferation of PFAS to other regions.
09:27Mikaela and Giovanni showed up in solidarity.
09:35Currently, the EU is considering a broad ban on PFAS production, use and sale, with limited exemptions.
09:44Companies would then face stricter reporting rules, tighter emission limits and clear phase-out deadlines.
09:51And that would be a big first step forward in the fight against these tough, forever chemicals in our water,
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