Nature and public health groups are today launching new proposalsdetailing how per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or ‘forever chemicals’, should be better regulated in the UK.[1] The proposals outline urgent measures that are needed to address the ever-growing threat of PFAS pollution to the public and the environment and emphasise the need for a universal PFAS restriction, and improved monitoring,disposal and remediation measures.
The launch coincides with the publication of new analysis of official Environment Agency data, which reveals an increase in harmful PFAS pollution in rivers across England in the last two years. The new analysis by the Rivers Trust and Wildlife and Countryside Link reveals that:
In the last week environment groups, co-ordinated by the Marine Conservation Society, have also written to ministers urging a ban on all PFAS in consumer products and a commitment to a clear timeline for phasing them out across all other uses. And in the first ever research on the presence of the highly persistent and mobile PFAS Trifluoroacetic Acid (TFA) in UK rivers, Fidra revealed that 98% of river sites tested were contaminated, with one site in Glasgow recording the second highest level of TFA ever documented globally.
Hannah Evans of Fidra, said: “Scientists continue to identify PFAS as one of the biggest threats of our time, yet the UK is falling behind other countries on restricting them. Every day of inaction locks in decades of pollution and environmental harm. But it’s not too late to act, we know solutions are possible through urgent source control. Countries such as France and Denmark have already made great strides in restricting PFAS use, and the EU is progressing with a proposed ban on all 10,000+ substances. We’re asking the UK Government to turn off the tap of these persistent ‘forever chemicals’ and align with the EU’s proposed universal PFAS restriction.”
Dr Shubhi Sharma of CHEM Trust, said: “Too often with hazardous chemicals the world has ignored early warnings of harm and learnt lessons far too late. PFAS are widely acknowledged to be a major threat to wildlife, communities, our health and industries like the farming and water sectors. Costs to tackle PFAS in the environment and address health impacts have a multi-billion pound economic price tag. The government must not delay in regulating these forever chemicals to stop PFAS pollution becoming an ever-increasing threat that is increasingly costly to tackle.”
Em Adler, Director of Impact at Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “PFAS are the depth charge of chemical pollution – linked to an explosion of impacts for wildlife and public health from cancers to immune issues. These new figures underline just how widespread PFAS pollution is and that PFAS regulation must be a much clearer priority in Government missions to clean-up UK rivers and improve the nation’s health. Lack of PFAS action could also be a business and political powder keg – with legal action in the US already starting to be replicated with UK test cases. We need to act now to implement key rules to turn PFAS from a forever problem to a pollutant of the past.”
Thalie Martini, Chief Executive Officer at Breast Cancer UK, said: “PFAS have been found in many human body tissues including the blood, liver and placenta. The evidence points to the potential for some PFAS to be related to health issues, including increasing breast cancer risk Stronger regulations can help reduce PFAS as a possible contributing factor to breast cancer, as the most common form of cancer in women, and millions of families affected by this disease will want the Government to do everything they can to deliver tougher PFAS rules to protect our health.”
Dr. Francesca Ginley, Marine Conservation Society, said: “Countries like France and Denmark, the EU as a whole and many US states have taken strong action against PFAS pollution. The time is now for the UK to take a stand and show the leadership we need on PFAS pollution from source to sea. We’ve heard welcome words from the current UK Government. That needs to be followed with a concrete plan of action on PFAS, from immediate measures that will cut PFAS use in consumer products to long term moves towards a completely PFAS-free economy.”
PFAS are a class of over 10,000 synthetic chemicals, with many toxic and bioaccumulative (build up along the food chain) and which are highly persistent in the environment – earning them their ‘forever chemical’ title. They have known links to health conditions including cancers such as breast cancer, hormone and immune issues and are widely found in wildlife from dolphins and otters to gannets and buzzards. There is a wealth of evidence of the widespread contamination from PFAS chemicals across the UK, in food, soil, rivers, wildlife and people’s bodies which should be a major driver of action.
The recently published interim policy statement on PFAS from Defra was a positive first step. But the UK needs strong action now to back this up, not years more of research. Despite the abundance of evidence of risks from PFAS and the increasing availability of safer alternatives (including among sectors like cosmetics, textiles, medical devices, and green technologies), UK PFAS regulations lag significantly behind the EU’s. The EU has already banned 6 types of PFAS (with a further ban in progress) and is progressing towards a universal PFAS restriction covering over 10,000 PFAS in a wide range of sectors, while the UK has yet to ban a single PFAS since leaving the EU and has a Regulatory Management Option Analysis (RMOA) which recommends considerably narrower restrictions than the EU’s universal restriction.
The groups are calling on Government to urgently deliver a PFAS Action Plan which includes:
ENDS
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