Telling young people the truth about perfluoroalkyl substances is a duty, however Donata Albero, coordinator of educational paths with the No Pfas Movement for years which, since 2018, have involved thousands of students in Veneto. «Becoming aware of the problem is the first step to becoming active citizens. I am convinced that problems should not be hidden with the excuse of protecting children» he says, with thirty-one years of experience as a school director, now retired. «I teach resilience through the example of activists, through the story of our battles. Sweetening the pill won’t make them grow, it’s not educational. Rather, let us send the message that, together, we have the possibility of saving ourselves. Not alone, but together yes: this means being active citizens.”
Just recently it was published in the scientific journal Environmental Health a study coordinated by prof. Annibale Biggeri of the Department of Cardio-thoracic-vascular Sciences and Public Health of the University of Padua, in which, for the first time, it is demonstrated the association between exposure to Pfas and mortality from cardiovascular diseases in the Venetian population of the contaminated area between the provinces of Vicenza, Padua and Verona. The correlation with kidney and testicular cancer is also highlighted.
«During meetings in schools, it happens that kids get angry, that they decide to write to the mayors, that they express the desire to change things. They say that more should be done, they ask to involve parents who, often, more than ten years after the discovery of the contamination in Veneto, still seem not to know the problem”, continues Albiero, specifying: “The educational paths we propose take into account the needs and expectations of the schools and are always shared by the the entire operational group that enters lower and upper secondary schools.”
Forty schools have been involved to date, mostly in the Vicenza area, but also in the provinces of Padua, Verona, Venice and Treviso, for over 8,500 students aged 11 to 19, in six school years. «Our group, made up exclusively of volunteers, is made up of doctors and environmental experts, who illustrate the scientific aspects of the problem. Let’s do what the institutions should do, let’s go to the schools and inform the kidsi», explains Albiero. «To this we add the meetings with activists, people who talk about their personal experience. They talk about how, once they became aware of the health dangers, something clicked in them and they knew they had to act. Hope, to quote Greta Thunberg, comes from action.”
The educational paths can be simple awareness meetings, structured with initial and final questionnaires, or projects that develop over a few months and end with the development of active citizenship proposals by the students. They prepare lessons aimed at other classes of the institute, do video interviews, involve adults, ask the Municipalities to sign the petition for the ban on Pfas, to send the signatures to Parliament. «We want to make the kids understand that health, an indispensable human right, is closely linked to the defense of the environment and active citizenship is the answer to give», concludes Albiero.
The photo is from the No Pfas Movement
