The invisible poison in the Rhine

The Rhine is considered clean again today. But our investigation uncovers a mysterious chemical cocktail in Germany’s longest river. Industry is allowed to discharge massive amounts of completely unknown pollutants – silently and potentially dangerous to the health of millions.

by Gesa Steeger , Annika Joeres and Finn Schöneck, Correctiv.org, January 2026

The three most important findings of this research

• Thousands of unknown chemicals from household and industrial wastewater float in the Rhine – nobody knows how harmful they are to health.
• Experts cannot rule out the possibility that some of these substances may also get into drinking water – and endanger health.
• CORRECTIV found hundreds of unknown substances in three of its own water samples in Switzerland, near Cologne and in the Netherlands.

Read on Correctiv.org in German or in Google English