A historic ruling has been issued by the Court of Vicenza: for the first time, a causal link has been recognised between the death of a worker and his exposure to PFAS. 

Short for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, PFAS are a broad family of chemical compounds used to make materials resistant to water, grease, and high temperatures. Also known as “forever chemicals” due to their extreme persistence in the environment and in the human body, PFAS include substances such as Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), classified as carcinogenic, and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), considered potentially carcinogenic. The harmful effects of exposure to these substances are numerous and can even be fatal.

The court ruled in favour of the family of Pasqualino Zenere, a former employee of Miteni  — an Italian chemical company — in Trissino (Vicenza), who worked there from 1978 to 1992. The family had filed a lawsuit against INAIL (the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work). Zenere died in 2014 from renal pelvis cancer, a disease acknowledged as a direct consequence of prolonged exposure to PFOA and PFOS.

Zenere’s case now opens the door for others who, like him, have been exposed to PFAS. However, PFAS pollution is not only a threat for workers, but also for any inhabitant of the affected areas and the natural environment. The lack of strict regulations in industrial processes has allowed these substances to spread easily into the environment, contaminating soil and groundwater, highlighting the urgent need for real environmental justice.

Although the Council of Ministers, on March 13, 2025, introduced at the Senate a Legislative Decree aimed at reducing the allowable levels of PFAS in drinking water and imposing limits for Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), these measures remain insufficient, as the only truly safe level of PFAS use is zero.

In light of Article 1 of the Italian Constitution, which defines Italy as a Republic founded on labour, the so-called “white deaths” (work-related deaths) can no longer be tolerated. There is a pressing need to ensure the full protection of the right to work in conditions that are safe and healthy.