Managers of a chemical plant accused of knowingly contaminating the water of hundreds of thousands of people are on trial in Italy, in one of Europe's biggest environmental disaster lawsuits.

The now-shuttered Miteni factory near the northeastern city of Vicenza is alleged to have polluted one of Europe's largest groundwater basins with PFAS, dubbed "forever chemicals" because they never break down.

PFAS have been used since the late 1940s to mass produce the nonstick, waterproof and stain-resistant treatments that coat everything from frying pans to umbrellas, carpets and dental floss.

But chronic exposure to even low levels of the chemicals has been linked to liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses, low birthweights and several kinds of cancer.

Over 200 civil plaintiffs have joined the Italian trial, which began in 2021 and is expected to reach a verdict in May or June.

Matteo Ceruti, a lawyer representing some of the affected families, told AFP it was "one of the biggest environmental disasters in history... (with) an affected population of up to 350,000 people".

The case was driven in part by campaigning by local mothers, who united after discovering their families had the chemicals in their........

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