Andrea Piccioli, Director General of the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), stated that persistent chemical substances used over the last fifty years, as well as traces of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, were found during voyages across four oceans and ten seas of the planet.
Notes on verification
Direct quote confirmed by ISS press release and independently corroborated by ANSA and other Italian health/science news outlets from the same date, with consistent phrasing across sources. [tier=bronze indep_score=0.525 clusters=3 claim_tier=notable | framework convergence=partial (upstreams: ISS Sea Care project, Convegno 'Mare e Salute' (ISS conference, June 2023)) — publishers independent, evidence may not be | kind=attributed eligibility=high]
Sources
- Comunicato Stampa N°41/2023 - Il mare è malato per colpa dell’uomo, i segni dal Mediterraneo al Polo Nord - ISS (seed:health_and_medicine)
- https://www.ansa.it/canale_saluteebenessere/notizie/sanita/2023/06/15/dalle-microplastiche-ai-pfas-il-mare-e-sempre-piu-malato_89a2cebc-eb65-40d2-9a26-e6b700a8a1ce.html (corroboration)
- https://www.quotidianosanita.it/scienza-e-farmaci/ambiente-e-salute-iss-il-mare-malato-per-colpa-dell-uomo-i-segni-dal-mediterraneo-al-polo-nord/ (corroboration)
- https://www.aogoi.it/notiziario/ambiente-salute-iss/ (corroboration)