Toxic Industry in Flanders

2025-09-22

ANTWERP / RIEME - No one knows how many harmful substances are emitted from the chimneys of Flemish factories. However, the emissions of the limited group of “Substances of Very High Concern” reported by Flemish companies are almost twice as high as those reported by companies in the Netherlands.

‘The Flemish government must ask itself why emissions of, for example, a proven carcinogen such as ethylene oxide are so much higher than in the Netherlands,’ says Dutch toxicologist Paul Scheepers.

In 2023, Flemish industry emitted 235,000 kilograms of 28 toxic chemicals. These include chemicals such as mercury, dioxins, lead and formaldehyde, substances known as “Substances of Very High Concern” (SVHC). The emissions of these substances pose health risks to people living near the factories. They can be carcinogenic, impair reproduction or accumulate in the food chain, and are also harmful to the environment.

Unlike in the Netherlands, there is no legal obligation in Flanders to reduce emissions of these substances.

Simon Dequeker and Sofyan El Bouchtili investigated the extent and impact of emissions of these toxic substances for Apache. This was no easy task, as emissions of most ZZS are not measured in Flanders. Unlike in the Netherlands, there is not even an official list of substances that should be considered “of concern”. Our northern neighbours identified more than 3,000 VOCs.

Flanders is lagging behind, but we did find 28 ZZS companies that report their emissions in both Flanders and the Netherlands. This is done via the integrated environmental annual report (IMVJ), which companies use to submit data on the emissions of specific substances every year. We identified the largest Flemish emitters of ZZS and compared their emissions with those of Dutch companies.

Photo: © Simon Dequeker & Sofyan El Bouchtili