Prevention of PFAS on the construction sites: TELT launches a call for tenders for an innovative environmental monitoring system

The procurement notice is now online for the selection of a specialist technical support service. Its mission will be to assist TELT with the binational implementation of its strategy to reduce the risk of PFAS contamination in materials used in the construction sites along the cross-border section of the new Lyon-Turin railway line.
In accordance with its environmental prevention policy, TELT – despite the absence of specific regulations applicable to the construction sector, but in accordance with the precautionary principle – has developed, in collaboration with ARPA Piemonte, a monitoring system for the protection of environmental media with regard to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), designed to prevent the risk of these substances being released during construction work.

How?

The tool developed by TELT is a practical guide designed to assist contractors in analysing and selecting materials entering the construction sites of the new Lyon-Turin railway line, with a view to excluding or minimising, at an early stage, the supply of materials containing PFAS.
Between 2024 and 2025, TELT had taken proactive measures by carrying out four survey campaigns on surface and groundwater in the areas where the construction sites are located at Salbertrand, Chiomonte, Susa, Torrazza and Caprie. This allowed to establish the ‘baseline’ (the initial environmental situation providing a basis for subsequent comparison). The result? No particular causes for concern were identified. In addition, for the Chiomonte construction site campaign, samples were also taken at the water treatment plant. These did not detect any PFAS in the water discharged back into the River Dora.
At the same time, ARPA Piemonte carried out its own duplicate controls, the results of which have been published on its website and which validated the results obtained by TELT, as well as the sampling and analysis methods used.

What are PFAS?

PFAS are substances that have been used on a large scale since the 1950s in commercial products due to their exceptional resistance to heat, water and oils, qualities owing to the strong chemical bonds between carbon and fluorine atoms. Thanks to this property, PFAS have been used in a vast number of industrial applications and in consumer goods such as food packaging and waterproof synthetic fabrics. To date, over 200 commonly used industrial categories and sub-categories have been identified, comprising a total of more than 1,400 different PFAS.

Why monitor and restrict them? 

As is well known, PFAS have been used for decades in various industrial applications, whilst a full understanding of their potential environmental and health impacts has only emerged relatively recently, thanks to advances in scientific knowledge and monitoring techniques. From a regulatory perspective, there are specific and binding limits for water intended for human consumption, as set out in the new EU Drinking Water Directive – which has recently been transposed into Italian law; these limits require systematic monitoring of PFAS concentrations to protect public health.

For other types of water, however, such as surface water and groundwater not intended for human consumption, the regulatory framework at EU and national level is still evolving, with environmental quality criteria that have been proposed but not yet universally adopted, and a lack of applicable standards for many PFAS substances in these water bodies.
In Piedmont, ARPA has been carrying out environmental monitoring of the spread of PFAS in the region’s soil and groundwater for the past fifteen years. The results are available to the public on the ARPA Piemonte Geoportal website.
This call for tenders forms part of the precautionary approach that TELT has chosen to adopt in all its activities with regard to the potential environmental and health risks arising from its operations. In other words, the public promoter does not act to ‘compensate’ for any damage, but equips itself with all the tools and strategies needed to minimise the likelihood of a potentially disruptive event occurring. In fact, enhanced protection is about preventing risk, rather than merely containing it once it has occurred.