Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-001712/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Dario Tamburrano (The Left), Carolina Morace (The Left), Valentina Palmisano (The Left), Leoluca Orlando (Verts/ALE), Ignazio Roberto Marino (Verts/ALE), Danilo Della Valle (The Left), Pasquale Tridico (The Left)
Recent biomonitoring near municipal waste incinerators in Ivry-sur-Seine[1], Zubieta[2] and Harlingen[3] and close to a cement plant in Turna Nad Bodvou that also burns waste[4] revealed very high and alarming levels of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, including dioxins and PFAS – in vegetation, soil and hens’ eggs, and in other environmental matrices tested from time to time.
Dioxins in eggs, in particular, often far exceeded the permitted EU limits. Persistent organic pollutants enter the human body mainly through ingestion.
In Zubieta, biomonitoring was carried out shortly before the incinerator started operations and showed only modest background pollution. Comparisons between that data and the recent data are striking.
The spread of persistent organic pollutants in environmental and food matrices near plants burning waste, then, appears to be more than simply a remote theoretical possibility.
In the light of the above:
- 1.Will the Commission look into this matter from a scientific perspective?
- 2.In the meantime, in application of Article 191 TFEU and the precautionary principle, will it push for a moratorium on waste incineration?
Supporter[5]
Submitted: 29.4.2025
- [1] https://zerowasteeurope.eu/library/the-true-toxic-toll-biomonitoring-report-in-paris-france/.
- [2] https://zerowasteeurope.eu/library/the-true-toxic-toll-biomonitoring-report-in-zubieta-spain/.
- [3] https://zerowasteeurope.eu/library/the-true-toxic-toll-biomonitoring-report-in-harlingen-the-netherlands/.
- [4] https://zerowasteeurope.eu/library/the-true-toxic-toll-2nd-biomonitoring-report-in-turna-na-bodvou-slovakia/.
- [5] This question is supported by a Member other than the authors: Cristina Guarda (Verts/ALE)