Is PFAS pollution a human rights violation? These activists say yes

By Katie Myers | Grist | April 27, 2023

Read the full article by Katie Myers (Grist)

"A grassroots environmental organization in the Cape Fear River basin of coastal North Carolina wants the United Nations to intervene in a decades-long pollution fight and declare its ongoing PFAS pollution a human rights violation.

In a letter sent to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, Clean Cape Fear alleges that Dupont and its spin-off company Chemours have for decades contaminated their source of drinking water with carcinogenic chemicals. Among other things, the 36-page document, sent Thursday morning, asks that the commission deem the community’s pervasive pollution an infringement of international law.

“We live in one of the richest nations in the world, yet our basic human rights are being violated,” Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, said in a statement. “We refuse to be a sacrifice zone. Residents here are sick and dying and we continue to lack equitable access to safe water in our region, or the necessary health studies to truly understand the impact from our chronic PFAS exposures.”

Topics:

• ChemicalsPFAS
• Affected community
• Health
• Regulations
• RegulationsStandards
• Measurement Techniques
• Monitoring Data
• PFAS Uses