The French town that banned its tap water and the chemicals that could be in yours
Then, three days later – right at the end of April – it was made official. Sandra and 60,000 other residents of Alsace, eastern France, were told by the local government that it had found dangerously high levels of PFAs – or 'forever chemicals' – in the water.
Those in high-risk groups – under-twos, immunocompromised people, pregnant women – were advised not to drink water from the taps for the rest of year.
The Guardian's biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston heads to Alsace to speak to residents and activists, and goes to the local spot that has caused the contamination.
As she tells Helen Pidd, it's a story that is unlikely to be limited to Alsace. For PFAs are used on an industrial scale right around the world. Valued because they just don't break down, they are used in products from non-stick frying pans to waterproof jackets. But the same quality means they are now found right across the environment too – from in the water and earth beneath our feet to inside even our blood.
So, if the water in Alsace has been deemed too dangerous to drink, what does it mean for the rest of the world?
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