| Autor: |
Cordner A; Department of Sociology, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington 99362, United States., Brown P; Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Department of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States., Cousins IT; Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-10691, Sweden., Scheringer M; Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich 8092, Switzerland., Martinon L; Freelance Datajournalist, Berlin 10961, Germany., Dagorn G; Le Monde, Paris 75013, France., Aubert R; Le Monde, Paris 75013, France., Hosea L; Watershed, London N1 7GU, England., Salvidge R; Watershed, London N1 7GU, England., Felke C; Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Ressort Investigation, Berlin 10117, Germany., Tausche N; Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich 81677, Germany., Drepper D; NDR/WDR/Süddeutsche Zeitung, Berlin 13086, Germany., Liva G; RADAR Magazine, Udine 33100, Italy., Tudela A; DATADISTA, Madrid 28013, Spain., Delgado A; DATADISTA, Madrid 28013, Spain., Salvatore D; Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Woburn, Massachusetts 01801, United States., Pilz S; Freelance Journalist, Weißenfelder Straße 7, Parsdorf, Munich 85599, Germany., Horel S; Le Monde, Paris 75013, France. |
| Abstrakt: |
While the extent of environmental contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has mobilized considerable efforts around the globe in recent years, publicly available data on PFAS in Europe were very limited. In an unprecedented experiment of "expert-reviewed journalism" involving 29 journalists and seven scientific advisers, a cross-border collaborative project, the "Forever Pollution Project" (FPP), drew on both scientific methods and investigative journalism techniques such as open-source intelligence (OSINT) and freedom of information (FOI) requests to map contamination across Europe, making public data that previously had existed as "unseen science". The FPP identified 22,934 known contamination sites, including 20 PFAS manufacturing facilities, and 21,426 "presumptive contamination sites", including 13,745 sites presumably contaminated with fluorinated aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) discharge, 2911 industrial facilities, and 4752 sites related to PFAS-containing waste. Additionally, the FPP identified 231 "known PFAS users", a new category for sites with an intermediate level of evidence of PFAS use and considered likely to be contamination sources. However, the true extent of contamination in Europe remains significantly underestimated due to a lack of comprehensive geolocation, sampling, and publicly available data. This model of knowledge production and dissemination offers lessons for researchers, policymakers, and journalists about cross-field collaborations and data transparency. |
