It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
The first Australian study of PFAS – so called “forever chemicals” – in rainwater has found safe concentrations of the chemicals according to the NHMRC Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
Researchers from RMIT University and EPA Victoria detected eight PFAS compounds in rainwater samples collected in Melbourne between 2024 and 2025.
PFAS are a large family of human-made chemicals comprising thousands of individual compounds used in products ranging from firefighting foams and food packaging to textiles, cosmetics and non-stick cookware.
While the findings may reassure people who rely on rainwater tanks, the study also offers clues about how these chemicals reach waterways and catchments far from obvious sources of contamination.
PFAS can enter the atmosphere attached to dust particles or tiny water droplets, travelling long distances before returning to the environment through rainfall.
Based on Melbourne rainfall and the concentrations measured in the study, the researchers estimated that rain might deliver about 10.6 kilograms of PFAS directly to Port Phillip Bay each year. That is about 5.5 grams/km² for the entire Port Phillip Bay, which has a surface area of 1,930 km².
The estimate suggests rainfall could be an important pathway for PFAS entering waterways, alongside better-known sources such as wastewater, urban runoff and landfill.
Managing contamination risks
Lead researcher Professor Oliver Jones, from RMIT’s School of Science, said the findings addressed a long-standing question about how PFAS sometimes appear in places where there were no obvious nearby sources.
"Finding PFAS in rain isn't surprising given how widespread these chemicals are in the environment," Jones said.
Jones said detecting a chemical did not automatically mean there was a health risk.
“The more useful question isn't whether a chemical is toxic, but whether it's present at a concentration that could actually cause harm,” he said.
“Dose and exposure matter.”
The researchers hope the work will encourage broader monitoring of PFAS in rainfall across Australia and improve understanding of how these chemicals move through the environment.
"The more important questions are how much is there, where did it come from and what does it tell us about how PFAS moves through the environment?"
"In our samples, concentrations of the two most well-known PFAS – PFOS and PFOA – were below current Australian drinking water guideline values, which should provide some reassurance for people who use rainwater as a source of drinking water."
Tracking PFAS through the atmosphere
The project aimed to test a new analytical method designed to measure very low concentrations of contaminants in small-volume samples such as rainwater.
The researchers analysed rainwater collected on three occasions and tested for 30 PFAS compounds.
“Eight compounds were detected, with concentrations generally measured in nanograms per litre,” Jones said.
“For context, one nanogram per litre is one part per trillion, so we are talking very low concentrations indeed.”
The study took a new turn when EPA Victoria collaborators contributed atmospheric modelling data, enabling the team to investigate the origins of air masses associated with each rainfall event.
Using atmospheric modelling, the researchers found rain linked to air travelling over land contained higher PFAS concentrations compared to over the ocean.
The finding suggests urban and industrial areas may be important sources of airborne PFAS deposited elsewhere through rainfall.
Lead author, PhD student Nav Singh, said the study contributed new and important knowledge on PFAS in the environment.
“This is an important environmental challenge, and I’m proud to be part of research that helps improve our understanding of it.”
EPA Victoria Deputy Chief Environmental Scientist Caroline Martino said the regulator was proud to be part of the study.
“This study provides valuable insights into how PFAS moves through the environment,” Ms Martino said.
“Robust, peer-reviewed evidence is essential for effective regulation, risk assessment and management."
“Science is at the heart of everything EPA does, and we’re always pleased to work with great institutions like RMIT.”
“Forever chemicals” is a misnomer
“PFAS are often called ‘forever chemicals’, but that term can be misleading because it suggests they never break down, which isn't actually the case,” Jones said.
“A more accurate description is that they are highly persistent, or ‘lingering’, chemicals that can remain in the environment for a long time, which is why understanding their behaviour is so important.”
The paper, 'Concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the rainwater of South-Eastern Australia', is published in the international journal Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology (DOI: 10.1093/etojnl/vgag204).
Concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the rainwater of South-Eastern Australia
White is more than a color: How nature inspired a new sustainable way to make white, water-repellent materials
Researchers at Kyoto University’s iCeMS have developed a foam-based technology that mimics nature to make brilliant white materials and control water repellency—without TiO₂ or PFAS. It offers a new platform for packaging, printed materials, and tex
Look closely at Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of Japan's most iconic masterpieces. The brilliant white of the waves, the snow on Mount Fuji and the clouds above contain no white pigment. Instead, their whiteness comes from the way light scatters off the unprinted fibers of the washi paper itself.
This optical phenomenon—known as structural whiteness—is the same mechanism that makes sea spray, snow, and clouds appear bright white in nature. Throughout nature, from plant tissues to protective frog nests, foamed structures made mostly of air scatter light with extraordinary efficiency, creating intense whiteness without the need for pigments.
This natural phenomenon inspired an international research team—led by Professor Easan Sivaniah of Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), alongside collaborators from Tokyo Metropolitan University and Donghua University—to develop a new foam-based materials platform that solves two major industrial challenges in everyday materials.
Today, white packaging, films and coatings rely heavily on titanium dioxide (TiO₂) to provide brightness and opacity in creating white materials, but safety concerns recently led the European Union to ban its use as a food additive. Meanwhile, fluorinated materials known as PFAS are widely used to provide water and oil repellency, but growing concerns about their persistence and potential environmental and health impacts are driving efforts around the world to develop alternatives.
To address these challenges, the team developed a technology that generates whiteness and controls water repellency through precisely engineered porous structures that reproduce the light-scattering behavior of natural foams, drawing inspiration from natural surfaces such as leaves and flower petals.
“A key challenge faced by biomimetic science is realizing environmentally friendly material designs inspired by nature at the scale and cost of existing materials.” — Assoc. Prof. Taiki Yanagishima, Tokyo Metropolitan University
The fabrication process is remarkably simple. It uses light followed by treatment with a mild solvent. Light first breaks the polymer into smaller molecular fragments. These fragments interact with the solvent, causing the material to swell and form an open, porous structure. Through this single process, the material achieves two distinct functions. Internally, the porous structure scatters light to create intense whiteness without added pigments. On the surface, the foam transforms into an extremely rough structure with strong water-repellent properties, similar to those found on a lotus leaf.
The research team named this technology Deep Foam Photolithography (DFP).
Working with textile researchers at Donghua University, one of China’s leading institutions for textile science and engineering, the team demonstrated that the process can be applied not only to printable polymer films but also to fabrics. Importantly, the process does not require the development of entirely new specialty chemicals and has already been demonstrated with several commercially available polymers.
The result is a new printable materials platform, capable of ultrahigh resolution (20,000 DPI), that combines structural whiteness with water-management functionality—without titanium dioxide and without PFAS.
The technology opens new opportunities by enabling lighter materials and reducing dependence on mined mineral pigments and persistent fluorinated chemicals. By generating color and surface functionality from the physical structure of the material itself, rather than relying on added pigments or persistent chemical coatings, the approach offers a fundamentally different, sustainable way to engineer everyday materials—delivering function through structure rather than chemistry.
Einstein portrait created with DFP technology, transforming light into matter.
Thousands of people gathered in central Zagreb at the weekend to demand action over more than 30,000 tonnes of waste illegally stored in central Croatia, reflecting growing public frustration with a government that has repeatedly promised to remove the material but has yet to begin the main cleanup.
The "Walk for Lika, Walk for Croatia" protest on September 5 was one of the biggest demonstrations in Zagreb in several years, bringing environmental activists and residents from the Lika region to Ban Jelačić Square.
The scale of the demonstration, and its timing just days after Prime Minister Andrej Plenković again promised to accelerate the cleanup, point to a problem that has become increasingly difficult for the government to contain: the issue is no longer simply whether the waste will eventually be removed, but why it has taken so long for a promised state response to turn into physical action on the ground.
The organiser, NGO Gospić je naš dom (Gospic is our home), has vowed to continue. A message on its Facebook page reads: “When Lika called, Croatia responded! People stood with people … Our work here at this protest is not done. It’s just getting started!”
Authorities uncovered between 34,000 and 37,000 tonnes of waste at an industrial site near Gospić last year, much of it imported from Italy in 2023 and 2024. Investigators suspect illegal waste-management activities at the site and elsewhere in Croatia, while environmental campaigners say improperly stored material is threatening soil, air and water in one of the country's best-known natural regions.
Government officials say the cleanup has been complicated by the criminal investigation and the absence of an appropriate facility in Croatia for the disposal of the buried hazardous material.
On September 2, Plenković said the cleanup was entering a new phase. The government has selected a contractor to cover the site to prevent leakage and another to remove waste stored in bags, while authorities have begun the process of finding a European company capable of removing and disposing of the buried material.
The government estimates that around 4,500 tonnes of waste lies on the surface, while another 32,000 to 33,000 tonnes of ash is buried at the site. Plenković said a procedure for removing the buried waste should be completed within 20 days.
"We are not waiting and we are not standing idly by," Deputy Prime Minister and Construction Minister Branko Bačić said in August, after the government contacted around 70 companies across Europe capable of handling the material.
Promises versus action
The assurances have not resolved the underlying political problem. For months, the government's message has been that the machinery for a cleanup is being put in place: tenders have been launched, companies have been contacted, water samples are being taken and prosecutors are investigating those responsible.
An initial procurement procedure for removing waste dumped openly at the Gospić site attracted no bids. A second tender was launched in June. At the same time, the government has been conducting market research and preparing documents for an urgent procurement procedure.
The government says it is dealing with a highly unusual operation involving hazardous material that cannot simply be transported to an ordinary landfill. Finding a company elsewhere in Europe that can take the waste, obtain the necessary permits and provide a complete disposal solution is therefore a substantial logistical and legal undertaking.
But for residents living close to the site, those explanations have increasingly lost their force. The question has also been complicated by conflicting assessments of the environmental and health risks.
Plenković said on September 2 that no analysis by the Croatian Institute of Public Health had found a problem that would make public drinking water unsafe. He said tests had also found no PFAS compounds in the samples tested and urged residents to continue using the public water supply. That message is intended to reassure the public, but it does not remove the environmental concerns identified by other experts.
New evidence raises pressure
Expert findings published by Croatia's anti-corruption office USKOK this week found microplastic particles in groundwater near the Gospić waste site, providing new evidence of a connection between the illegally stored material and the surrounding groundwater system.
Samples taken on May 8 from three monitoring wells at Divоsel, near the site known as Silos Velebit, contained hundreds of thousands of particles, with 426,500 confirmed using Raman spectroscopy. Detailed analysis identified 148 particles belonging to priority polymers classified as microplastic.
The concentration was particularly pronounced at the Trag K monitoring location, which accounted for 132 of the 148 confirmed priority polymer particles.
The findings do not establish that public drinking water is unsafe, and the government has stressed that distinction. However, they do strengthen the environmental case for removing the waste rather than simply monitoring it.
The evidence also matters politically because Gospić is not an isolated case. USKOK's wider investigation covers suspected illegal waste-management activities at several locations, including Varaždin and Benkovac.
At a former factory site in Varaždin, experts found an estimated 1,352 tonnes of mixed waste, together with at least 30 tonnes of sludge-like material containing antimony. Microplastic and microbiological contamination were detected, along with elevated levels of dissolved organic carbon.
Experts said the contamination appeared largely localised and found no evidence that it had spread towards the Bartolovec water-supply area or nearby protected areas. But they warned that the waste sits above an unprotected aquifer without a sealing layer and could, in the event of flooding, release pollutants towards the Drava River.
They called for urgent waste removal and soil remediation. That makes the Gospić controversy part of a wider question about the state's capacity to police Croatia's waste-management sector rather than simply a single illegal dump.
Croatia's Flamingo Revolution?
Protests over environmental issues have shown staying power elsewhere in the region. September 7 was the 100th consecutive day of protests in Albania, where the demonstrations against a planned development linked to US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner have erupted into a broader expression of unhappiness with the Albanian authorities. The protests have been dubbed the Flamingo Revolution, after one of the birds that inhabits the protected coastal wetland where the development is planned.
In Serbia, international mining giant Rio Tinto's planned investment into a major lithium mine also sparked mass protests in recent years.
Croatia's President Zoran Milanović and opposition parties such as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Most (Bridge) have sought to capitalise on the waste scandal. On August 18, Milanovic called on parliament to hold an extraordinary session over the Gospić site, demanding immediate permanent remediation, regular reports to parliament and meetings between the government, residents and civic groups. He also called for stronger state oversight of waste sites across Croatia.
Milanović pointed to the fact that the State Inspectorate had been without a permanent chief since the government dismissed Andrija Mikulić in November 2025. Mikulić was subsequently arrested on suspicion of corruption linked to illegal waste disposal, allegations he denies.
The government has responded by stressing that USKOK and prosecutors are investigating those responsible and that offenders should face severe punishment. Officials accused opposition politicians of trying to exploit the crisis to destabilise the government. Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Anušić has described the dumping as an exceptionally serious criminal offence, saying it "borders on terrorism".
Sunday, September 06, 2026
Shein’s stock market debut was a major flop. Does it signal the death of ultra-fast fashion?
Copyright Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
“A model that floods the market with thousands of new daily styles at single-digit price points can only exist by passing its true costs onto labour and the environment.”
Shein’s ultra-fast fashion empire has taken a dramatic fall following its post-IPO valuation collapse.
The e-commerce platform, which is headquartered in Singapore but outsources much of its manufacturing to China, failed to go public in London and New York following concerns around its supply chain and heavy criticism of its environmental impact.
Shein therefore pivoted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where it was valued at around $27 billion (approximately €23.24 billion) on 1 September. It may seem like a huge financial win, but it’s 70 per cent lower than its private market peak of almost $100 billion (€86 billion) back in 2022.
Why was Shein’s IPO such a flop?
“Capital markets aren’t acting out of pure altruism: they’re reacting to material financial risk,” sustainability expert and founder of tech company E&S Solutions Ildiko Almasi Simsic tells Euronews Earth.
“Shein’s delayed public listings and severely discounted valuation prove that investors now recognise ESG issues as direct threats to terminal value.”
Simsic argues that a business model that has been exposed to multiple controversies, such as forced labour and hazardous chemicals in clothing, carries an “enormous risk profile”.
She says environmental and human rights issues have now crossed over from “ethics to equity”, signalling a watershed moment for the fast-fashion industry.
But what makes Shein so controversial in the first place, and can its super cheap garments and on-trend styles ever become sustainable?
Shein’s controversial supply chains
“For years, ultra-fast fashion grew by leveraging hyper-fragmented, outsourced supply chains that kept prices absurdly low while keeping liabilities at arm’s length,” Simsic tells Euronews Earth.
“But that model created a massive structural vulnerability. When your business relies on thousands of sub-contractors operating in grey regulatory zones, supply chain oversight isn’t just an operational headache – it becomes a central business risk.”
Shein’s supply chain has been shrouded in controversy since its conception. In 2022, an investigation by environmental NGO Greenpeace Germany found hazardous chemicals above the EU regulatory limits in seven of 47 Shein products tested.
At the time, Shein acknowledged the chemical contamination and pledged “substantial improvements” to its chemical management.
However, a 2025 investigation found that little had changed. Greenpeace purchased 56 garments from Shein across eight countries and analysed them for hazardous chemicals. They found that 18 of 56 (32 per cent) of the garments exceeded the EU limits, including children’s clothing.
Among other chemicals, the plasticizers phthalates and water- and dirt-repellent “forever chemicals” (PFAS) were detected. These are hazardous chemicals that have been linked to various health concerns, including cancer, reproductive disorders, growth disorders in children, and immunodeficiency disorders.
Workers in producing countries are often exposed without protection, while chemicals are discharged untreated into waterways and soils,
Greenpeace
Global campaigning network
“Consumers are also at risk as they can be exposed to these chemicals through several ways – directly through the skin, by inhaling textile fibres in the air and, in the case of small children, through mouthing contaminated clothes.”In 2023, Shein admitted to finding two cases of child labour in its supply chain during the first nine months of the year.
The firm introduced new rules so that any child labour or forced labour violations have become grounds for immediate termination of contracts.
“Both cases were resolved swiftly, with remediation steps including terminating contracts with underage employees, ensuring the payment of any outstanding wages, arranging medical checkups and facilitating repatriation to parents/ legal guardians as needed,” Shein said at the time.
“Following appropriate remediation, the contract manufacturers were permitted to resume business.”
Despite Shein’s clampdown on labour violations, concerns of poor working conditions remain rife. A 2025 investigation by the BBC found that workers were sitting behind sewing machines for around 75 hours a week in contravention of Chinese labour laws.
Many employers told the publication that they only have one day off each month and have to endure 12-hour shifts, which didn’t include breaks for lunch and dinner, often working until past 10pm.
A 2024 report by Swiss advocacy group Public Eye also found that excessive overtime was still common for many workers – despite Shein promising to improve conditions following previous probes.
Can Shein ever be sustainable?
As Shein geared up for going public, scrutiny on its fast-fashion model grew stronger.
The company’s draft prospectus included the slogan “We believe in doing well by doing good”. However, according to Public Eye, this was removed from the final document.
Shein insists that “commitment to sustainable and responsible growth is woven into the fabric” of its business model. However, the expected IPO proceeds allocate just 10 per cent to sustainability and corporate responsibility.
An investigation by global nonprofit Rest of World found that between July and December of 2021, Shein added anywhere between 2,000 and 10,000 SKUs (stock keeping units, or individual styles) to its app each day.
This is because Shein orders small batches of each garment, sometimes as low as a few dozen pieces, then waits to see how consumers respond. If a particular item seems to be selling well, Shein orders more.
“A model that floods the market with thousands of new daily styles at single-digit price points can only exist by passing its true costs onto labour and the environment,” Simsic says.
“Cheap prices are an illusion created by systemic outsourcing. When garments are produced at a fraction of a cent per stitch, it almost guarantees non-compliance with fair wages, excessive overtime, and cheap, fossil-fuel-derived synthetic fabrics.”
The expert acknowledges that while efficiency and tech-driven demand forecasting can reduce excess inventory, it cannot bypass the “physical limits of planetary resources or basic human rights”.
“Ultra-low cost and sustainability are fundamentally incompatible concepts,” she adds. “One inherently undermines the other.”
Can fast fashion survive the scrutiny?
Shein’s scrutiny has gone far beyond complaints from environmentalists and individuals. Earlier this week, France passed a law targeting companies known for selling large volumes of low-quality clothing at rock-bottom prices.
“The harmful effects of ultra-fast fashion on our environment and our economy are well known and documented,” says Mathieu Lefevre, the minister for ecological transition.
Under the bill, firms like Shein are assessed under two criteria: the volume of clothing placed on the market and the cost of repairing garments relative to their purchase price.
The per-item fee will vary on a set scale according to how each product scores on both of these standards.This year, companies will pay fines such as a 50-cent levy on underwear falling into the ultra-fast fashion category, rising to €2 for T-shirts, €9 for jeans and €12 for a jacket.
The levy could reach up to €19.50 per item by 2030, though the cap remains at 50 per cent of the product’s pre-tax price.
Beijing has bitten back, urging France to abandon the law and describing it as “clearly discriminatory” due to Shein – and sites like Temu – being located in Asia.
“Should France persist in this course of action, China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” says commerce ministry spokeswoman Huang Ling. “France will bear full responsibility for all consequences arising from this.”
Simsic argues that while fast-fashion giants will still be able to survive new laws like this, it’s likely they won’t reach their historical growth model.
We’re witnessing a decisive shift from voluntary corporate sustainability to hard, enforceable law.
Ildiko Almasi Simsic
Sustainability expert
“Historically, labour issues or toxic chemical findings were managed by public relations or board-level sustainability committees. Today, with legislation like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and Extended Producer Responsibility, these are strict legal compliance matters carrying fines of up to five per cent of global turnover.”
Simsic adds that if non-compliance directly threatens a company’s bottom line through hefty regulatory penalties and import bans, growth will inevitably slow. It means sites like Shein will have no choice but to internalise these costs, by investing heavily in supply chain traceability and safer materials.
Euronews Earth has contacted Shein for comment.
'Anti-fast-fashion' law: France rejects China's discrimination claims
China has claimed that the new "anti-fast-fashion" law which came into force in France on Tuesday amounts to "discrimination." Responding to these accusations, a source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Euronews that such claims were false.
On Thursday, China claimed that France's new fast-fashion law, targeting major Asian e-commerce platforms including Shein and Temu was "clearly discriminatory." Responding to these accusations, a source from a department linked to France's Ministry of Foreign Minister Affairs told Euronews that these claims were false.
A source from the French Foreign Trade and Attractiveness office said that the new law was "not discriminatory" and that it was introduced to "protect the environment and consumers."
"It is in everyone's interest, including China's, to have a peaceful relationship with France, with the European Union, and a civil trade relationship", the source said.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson Huang Ling called for the suspension of the new law, which came into force on Tuesday, after it was voted in July.
The law imposes fees on certain items — which will eventually reach almost 20 euros per garment — as part of a push to curb the industry's environmental and local economic impacts.
"China urges France to immediately halt the implementation of the anti-ultra-fast fashion law," said Huang, adding that China stands in "firm opposition to France's insistence on pushing forward this trade-restrictive measure, which is clearly discriminatory".
"Should France persist in this course of action, China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," she stated, while warning that "France will bear full responsibility for all consequences arising from this."
"No discrimination"
According to the source at France's Foreign Trade and Attractiveness Office, while there is "no discrimination", China is within its rights to raise issues around the law with the WTO.
"The fact that China feels targeted is indeed something we have heard. We are of course ready to talk to them to understand to what extent they feel targeted [...] If China has technical issues with the law, it is perfectly entitled to submit them to the WTO."
"Our Parliament is sovereign and has had its say. It has passed this law and we will fully respect its decision. This kind of threat, this challenge to a state's sovereign position, is coercion, economic retaliation. But for now, it remains a threat."
The European Commission has expressed reservations about whether France's "anti-fast-fashion" law is compatible with EU law, particularly relating to its advertising ban, which prohibits promotional campaigns and influencer marketing for fast-fashion brands.
However, according to the source, the law has undergone revisions and is robust. "We have taken the time to respond to the European Commission's concerns, to questions about compatibility with various directives. Questions remain, but we are confident",
"From our point of view, there are no outstanding issues".
For now, China has not said what retaliatory measures it could take, but Beijing has already targeted French interests in the past, imposing anti-dumping measures on European brandy in 2024, after the European Union decided to impose duties on Chinese electric vehicles.
Under France's new legislation, what counts as "ultra-fast fashion" is determined on the basis of two sets of criteria: the volume of clothing placed on the market and the cost of repairing garments relative to their purchase price.
The per-item fee is set to vary on a set scale, according to how each product scores on both these standards.
Shein, known for its ultra-low prices and rapidly produced clothes, made a tepid Hong Kong Stock Exchange debut on Tuesday, after previous plans for initial public offerings in New York and London were derailed.
The online retailer moved its headquarters to Singapore between 2021 and 2022, which analysts say was intended to avoid increasing global scrutiny of Chinese firms.
