Yet, despite the cleanup carried out by Solvay, neighbors of the plant continue to fall ill in unexplained ways. Alice Lenaz is from Spinetta Marengo. She saw many of her relatives affected. Her father died of kidney cancer in 2015. Her aunt contracted leukemia acute myeloid. We meet her a few weeks after the funeral of her uncle, who also left because of two brain tumours: “We were doing the cancer tour at the hospital. I’m going to see dad first, then while I’m at it, I’m going to see my aunt and our family friend who has something in his stomach. Everyone has cancer in this family. Cancer has become the rhythm. It’s the wrong beat we dance to.”
Cancer has become the rhythm
At the end of 2019, a epidemiological study published by ARPA, the regional environmental protection agency, will confirm the feelings of the population. She analyzed people living within a 3 km radius of the Solvay plant. She listed all the pathologies by collecting hospital admission data between 2001 and 2017. She then compared this population with that of the neighboring town of Alessandria located more than 3 km away. The results are edifying. In Spinetta, residents face an increased risk of developing liver tumor (30%), kidney cancer (76%), hypertension (8%), respiratory diseases (47%) And this is not all.
An increase in cardiovascular disease
“What we have shown is an increase in neurological pathologies, especially in children living in the area closest to the plant. There is also an increase in cardiovascular disease. This is very important, very significant, because we know that endocrine disruptors, and in particular PFAS, one of their actions is to disrupt the body and it is precisely to increase cholesterol. All these increases I mention are statistically significant values“, comments Christina Ivaldi, the epidemiologist of the Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA).
This study does not yet demonstrate a causal link between Solvay chemicals and disease. To establish a link, it would be necessary to test the population with blood samples. Still, the ARPA epidemiologist dropped the word: the PFAS, the famous “eternal chemicals“, could play a role.
They are part of Solvay’s specialty polymer manufacturing process. It is the goose that lays the golden eggs of the Belgian group. They represent the largest share of its turnover (2.173 billion euros in 2021). Thanks to the almost indestructible properties of PFAS, Solvay is developing special polymers capable, for example, of making planes or cars lighter.
Despite our multiple requests for months, we will never have the opportunity to visit this factory or even to interview a manager directly. Solvay will only communicate with us in writing.
On May 17, the communication department wanted to tell us that PFAS are used in a very strict way: “[…] at Spinetta, we apply state-of-the-art technologies that allow us to eliminate nearly 100% of fluorinated surfactant emissions. We use fluorinated surfactants in the production of certain polymers requiring very specific characteristics in terms of their resistance. They are produced in a closed and strictly controlled cycle in order to avoid emissions into water and air. The message that Solvay wants to convey is clear: the multinational constantly invests in the sealing of its facilities.
At Spinetta, Solvay used PFOA until 2013. PFOA is considered one of the most toxic PFAS. Dr Corinne Charlier, Head of the Clinical Toxicology Department at the University Hospital of Liège, knows very well its impact on health: “In the effects of which we are sure, we know that there is an effect on the thyroid function. We know that there is an increase in cholesterol. There is a decrease in the proper functioning of the liver. We have seen kidney cancer and testicular cancer. And during pregnancy, it’s always obviously the most problematic time of exposure for the fetus. For the child, there are developmental problems. We have a baby who will be born with a lower birth weight, when the mother is exposed. And we also have a poorer response to vaccination.“