As part of the CASI project (Chemistry, Environment, Health, Innovation) of the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Trieste – aimed at promoting the transformation and improvement of the quality of life in terms of health, environment, culture, economy and work – an event focusing on a film of social importance will be held in Trieste, at the Ariston cinema, on Wednesday 3rd December, from 17.30 to 20.50 (free admission), which deals with the relationship between science, technology, regulation and ethics: ‘Bad waters’ (2019), directed by Todd Hynes.
The screening of the film will be introduced by Prof. Pierluigi Barbieri, professor at the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and head of the CASI project, on PFAS (known as the Forever Chemicals) and by the intervention of Paolo Jerkic and Lorenzo Tirelloof Acegas Aps Amga (partner of the CASI project) on ‘Monitoring and technologies for the removal of PFAS in waste water and drinking water’. After a debate with the public, the screening of the film ‘Bad Waters’ will be followed by a final moment of in-depth analysis.

The film ‘Bad Waters’ tells the story of lawyer Robert Bilott’s legal battle against the chemical production company DuPont following the Parkersburg water pollution scandal with unregulated chemicals. Based on a 2016 article in the New York Times Magazine by Nathaniel Rich, it concerns a story that led to highlight a case of pollution with significant health and environmental impact, not unlike an Italian story, that of Miteni di Trissino, a chemical company owned by the German group WeylChem, which produced fluoride-containing intermediates for the textile, agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries. The company declared bankruptcy in 2018, following the discovery of groundwater contamination - starting from Trissino, involving the whole of central-western Veneto, up to the sea - with perfluorinated surfactants (the ‘forever pollutants’).

‘The topic is now more central than ever in the scientific and public debate’, notes Prof. Pierluigi Barbieri, recalling the recent presentation to the Senate of the documentary How to poison a planet, dedicated to the largest chemical contamination in modern history in the United States. ‘With this event, we want to give the public an informed look at the processes related to chemicals that affect the environmental quality and health of citizens’. Barbieri also points out that the initiative is part of the broader CASI project, carried out in collaboration with AcegasApsAmga, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and the professional association of chemists and physicists of FVG, and preceded by a round table dedicated to the presence of drugs in urban discharges and the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria – one of the most important global health emergencies.

The CASI Project
The project has been funded through a call for applications published by the University of Trieste to promote the implementation of projects that can contribute to the cultural growth, development and well-being of society. The primary objective was promoting the transformation and improvement of the quality of life in terms of health, environment, culture, economy and work, in order to reduce and hopefully eliminate economic, social and territorial inequalities, promote social inclusion and limit and prevent damage, risks or other critical issues.
The project is part of the ecological and energy transition and environmental and climate sustainability, with a focus on water management and protection, pollution prevention, circular economy and climate change adaptation strategies.