The scenery is breathtaking: from the top you can see immaculate expanse of snowy mountains, at a loss of sight.

But dangerous and persistent chemical substances HAVE BEEN FOUND: just the one advertised with wildlife spots.

The complaint comes from a Greenpeace report, "Impronte in neve".

Major concentrations were found in Lake of Pilato, on the Sibillini Mountains, between Umbria and Marche, but also in the High Tatras, Slovakia, and the Alps in the Swiss National Park. Smaller quantities in Chilean Patagonia, China, Russia, Turkey and the Scandinavian countries.

Between May and June, eight teams of activists from the environmental association organized shipment to mountain areas and found traces of PFCs, polyfluoric and perflorated compounds. Once released into the environment they degrade very slowly, remaining in the original form for several years and dispersing.

The perfluorinated compounds are a family of chemicals consisting of carbon-fluoride bonds. Their particular structure makes perfluorocarbons capable of repelling water and oily / fat substances. For this reason, PFCs are used to make many products we use on a daily basis. Some tests carried out by Greenpeace have found that PFCs are present in various outdoor clothing and sportswear products manufactured like Adidas brands,Columbia and The North Face.