PFAS Contamination and Structural Responsibility Gaps: Corporate and State Failures in Preventing Human Rights Violations and Environmental Harms

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as “forever chemicals”, represent one of the most pressing challenges in contemporary environmental governance. Owing to their distinctive properties, this broad class of synthetic chemicals has been widely used across industrial sectors and consumer products. Despite increasing scientific evidence regarding their extreme environmental persistence and the adverse effects associated with prolonged exposure and accumulation in living organisms, PFAS dissemination continued for decades. This thesis examines PFAS contamination through the lens of human rights and environmental law, investigating how structural responsibility gaps between States and corporate actors contributed to the failure to prevent long-term, transboundary and intergenerational harm. Particular attention is given to the implications for the rights to health, life, access to information, participation in environmental decision-making and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. This research contributes to the literature by framing PFAS contamination not merely as the result of scientific uncertainty or regulatory delay, but as reflecting deeper systemic dynamics in which economic interests, profit maximisation and industrial expansion were prioritised over public health and environmental protection. These dynamics were further reinforced by lobbying practices aimed at sustaining PFAS production. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative interdisciplinary approach, combining legal analysis, academic literature, civil society sources, official documentation and investigative reports. A comparative examination of selected case studies from the United States, Italy, Japan, and India identifies recurring patterns of fragmented responsibility, institutional shortcomings, knowledge asymmetries and corporate strategies to evade accountability. It also highlights the role of civil society actors in uncovering contamination and producing counter-knowledge capable of challenging institutional inaction. More broadly, the thesis positions PFAS contamination as a form of slow violence, whereby chronic harm unfolds gradually across time and jurisdictions.