Today, PFAS pollution is finally in the spotlight after decades of silence maintained by the industrial players and users of these chemical compounds, which have become essential in many products. PFAS are now a shared concern, taken up by politicians in many countries (notably in the US), who are working on new laws to regulate their use.

But despite the rise of PFAS in the media, you may still have questions. How can you know if you’re exposed to this insidious PFAS pollution?

You may have already answered our questionnaire to very basically assess your exposure. To complement this initial result, we are excited to present a new interactive map: in just a few clicks, you can discover pollution sources in your neighborhood, your city, or even in more distant regions!

Reliable Data, Collected by Independent Journalists

The ForeverPollution project is an international collective of investigative journalists dedicated to studying and raising awareness about the dangers of PFAS. In 2023, they made their research findings public to sound the alarm on PFAS, publishing hundreds of articles in the international press. To ensure transparency and demonstrate the complete independence of their research, they also gave everyone full access to the data collected over the years. This particularly detailed information is still available today on the collective’s website, which we strongly recommend you visit.

It is this information, totaling more than 40,000 lines of data, that we have compiled into an interactive map, allowing you to easily visualize pollution sources around you.

An Intuitive Map of Pollution Sources

Our map, inspired by the one provided by the site foreverpollution.eu, lists polluted European sites and measurements taken from water samples from the continent’s water sources or networks. While the map is, of course, not exhaustive, it will give you a good idea of the situation, with higher accuracy around major cities.

This map has four main features:

• Easy Access:
  • No need to download any additional application or software. Our map works with your basic internet browser.
• Personalized Search:
  • Enter your city or postal code in the map’s search bar to zoom directly into your residential area.
• Privacy:
  • No precise address is required, and your personal data is not needed.
• Detailed Information:
  • By clicking on a specific pollution source, you can access detailed information about the origin of the pollution, the substances involved, and the measurements taken at the site.

This interactive map is more than just an informational tool. It is a powerful instrument of transparency and accountability, allowing everyone to take ownership of the PFAS issue and participate in the fight against this pollution.

Check Out Your City

We invite you to explore this interactive map today and discover the pollution sources around you. Use this knowledge to take action, raise awareness among those around you, and actively participate in preserving our environment.

To access the interactive map and get a clear picture of the PFAS pollution situation in your city or region, it’s simple:

• Type your city into the search field.
• Zoom in or out as you wish, using your mouse wheel on a computer or your fingers on mobile.
• Click on the red, yellow, or blue points around your city:
  • Contaminated water or soil samples are indicated in red.
  • Suspected pollution sites are indicated in blue.
  • Industrial sites confirmed to use PFAS are indicated in yellow.

It’s your turn!

Want to take your evaluation of PFAS exposure further? Here are three ways to dig deeper, from the simplest to the most demanding:

Sources:

• Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes First-Ever National Drinking Water Standard to Protect 100M People from PFAS Pollution, EPA.gov
• Foreverpollution.eu website

*Images by StockSnap on Pixabay and master1305 on Freepik