The Impact of PFAS “Forever Chemicals” In The UK
Frequently asked questions about PFAS in the UK and the devastating impact they have on our health and the environment. Join the fight against PFAS today.
The UK government is ignoring PFAS pollution and claiming it doesn’t have the budget to deal with it.
This has left scientists and members of the public with deep concerns about how this will affect our health and the environment.
PFAS have been linked to development delays in children and serious health problems in humans.
They’ve been found in 97% of UK rivers and are in a massive quantity of consumer products.
It probably won’t come as a surprise that chemical and plastic corporations are lobbying the UK government to stop the restriction of PFAS.
If you care about the planet and your family’s health, then it’s time to start taking action against forever chemicals.
Today I’ll share everything you need to know about PFAS, the main ways you’re exposed, and what actions you can take to avoid these forever chemicals.
Why are the UK government not restricting or banning PFAS?
The plastics industry uses fake information to lobby the government
-
What foods are high in PFAS?
How do PFAS contaminate drinking water?
What limit for PFAS in UK drinking water?
Short for per- or poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (what a mouthful), PFAS are a large group of manmade chemicals that are used to create:
non-stick coatings
stain-resistant fabrics
waterproof products
They contain carbon-fluorine bonds which are extremely strong and resist breaking down.
Some PFAS are known to persist in the environment longer than any other synthetic chemical.
They are often nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they can take 1000 years to degrade.
PFAS are “long-chain” or “short-chain” depending on the number of carbon atoms in their chain. Both types cause health risks.
You pronounce PFAS like “pea-fass.”
PFAS contamination harms the environment in several ways:
Water Pollution – Because PFAS don’t break down easily, they can persist in water supplies for decades which harms aquatic life.
Bioaccumulation in Wildlife – PFAS build up in the bodies of animals over time leading to immune and reproductive issues.
Soil Contamination – PFAS can seep into the soil, making it difficult for plants to grow properly. Crops absorb PFAS from the soil.
Air Pollution – PFAS can be released into the air during manufacturing and waste incineration. Once airborne, they can travel long distances and settle in new areas, spreading contamination further.
4. Are PFAS harmful to health?
Some PFAS, especially those with a long chain, can accumulate in human bodies.
Thanks to brands like Teflon, we’ve been exposed to forever chemicals for a long time.
Although scientists and researchers still have a lot to learn about these toxic substances, they have already been linked to many health problems.
Cancer: PFAS have been linked to multiple types of cancer, particularly in areas where they are manufactured
Endocrine disruption: PFAS can mimic hormones, they have been linked to accelerated puberty and thyroid disease
Liver damage: PFAS accumulate in the body. They have been linked to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Pregnancy issues: studies have linked PFAS to miscarriage, high blood pressure in pregnant women, and low birth weight
Altered immune response: children exposed may struggle to fight infections and have an increased risk of asthma/allergies. It also reduces the effectiveness of vaccines.
Ulcerative Colitis: an increase was found in populations with high exposure to PFAS in drinking water
In 2024, 59 experts in PFAS wrote a letter to DEFRA (the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs) to encourage them to follow the science and treat all PFAS as one class of chemicals.
Only 2 types of PFAS are regulated in the UK, but each time a fluorinated chemical is banned or restricted, another one that has not been safety-tested replaces it.
As there are over 10,000 types of PFAS and it takes decades of scientific study before a chemical can be proven to be unsafe, the EU is moving towards treating them as a single group.
DEFRA has opted to take a risk-based approach instead.
PFAS will continue to be used and the UK will try to assess and manage the risks.
DEFRA stated that “not all PFAS are harmful” despite their environmental persistence.
Therefore, the UK intend to put PFAS into smaller groups so that corporations can keep manufacturing and selling products in the UK.
DEFRA is currently only monitoring a few types of PFAS.
Read expert opinions on DEFRA’s response in the Guardian.
The Plastics industry uses fake information to lobby government officials
The Forever Lobbying Project recently exposed intense industry lobbying by the Plastics Industry against PFAS in the EU and UK.
Lobbying is the act of trying to persuade someone in Parliament to support a particular policy or campaign.
The project discovered that the fluoropolymer industry, led by their business association, Plastics Europe used arguments that are false, fearmongering, dishonest, or misleading to delay or water down EU restrictions on PFAS.
These are the kind of tactics used by industry lobbyists to defend tobacco, fossil fuels, and toxic pesticides like glyphosate.
The Forever Project found that although the UK is not planning to follow the EU’s footsteps and regulate all PFAS, the UK has still been lobbied.
The main ways humans are exposed to PFAS are:
Drinking water
Food
Indoor air
Household products
Personal care products
PFAS can be found in a variety of household products because they provide useful qualities, like non-stick on pans and food packaging.
They make clothes stain-resistant and ensure products like coats, shoes, mattresses, and umbrellas repel water.
This leads to PFAS building up in household dust and contaminating the air.
Some products need waterproof or non-stick qualities, so ethical brands have spent years working on finding alternatives to PFAS.
I’m planning on contacting as many brands as I can to help you find PFAS-free products. Sign up to my (monthly) mailing list to be informed when these new guides go live.
When it comes to food, we are trapped in a vicious cycle of PFAS in the UK.
It starts when the forever chemicals that you eat, drink or use in your home go down the drain.
As a result, wastewater treatment centres are a major source of PFAS pollution.
87% of sewage sludge (which is contaminated with PFAS because there’s no regulation or monitoring) gets used as fertiliser on agricultural land.
This contaminates our crops and livestock and puts PFAS in our food chain.
The UK also use at least 10 different types of fluorinated pesticides and government testing has revealed residues in fruits and vegetables.
Strawberries are at the top of the list 95% of them containing multiple residues of PFAS pesticides.
What foods are high in PFAS?
Most foods haven’t been tested, but the following have been reported to contain PFAS:
Processed meat
Strawberries
Cherries
Spinach
Eggs
White rice
Takeaway food packaging (mainly paper packets like the ones McDonald’s fries and cookies come in) also has PFAS added to it to make it greaseproof.
It was reported that PFAS were found in the drinking water sources at 17 of 18 England’s water companies, but how exactly does it get there?
There are multiple ways that forever chemicals end up in water:
Wastewater treatment plants: wastewater gets contaminated by consumer products containing PFAS. Treated and untreated sewage is then discharged into rivers and seas
Landfills: liquids contaminated with PFAS leak out into nearby water
Factories: High amounts of PFAS are found in water sources near industrial sites that use PFAS
Fire training sites, airports, military sites: fire fighting foam contains toxic PFAS. Places that use a large amount have polluted nearby water supplies.
What is the limit for PFAS in UK drinking water?
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) regulates tap water in England and Wales.
In August 2024, the Drinking Water Inspectorate published guidance that set a new stricter limit of 100 nanograms per litre (100ng/L) for a total of 48 different types of PFAS.
While this is definitely an improvement, the Royal Society of Chemistry believes this is not strong enough.
They have proposed a limit of 10ng/L for each individual PFAS found in drinking water.
If you’re concerned about your family’s exposure to PFAS, there are many ways to reduce forever chemicals in your home.
Check out my latest blog post 10 tips for reducing PFAS in your home.
I’d also recommend contacting your MP to raise your concerns about PFAS and you’re more than welcome to share any of my images on social media (a tag is appreciated, too!)
Sustainably Lazy is making sustainable choices simpler for conscious consumers around the world. If you love what we do, please support our work by sharing this post with your friends. For the price of a cuppa you can help us inspire thousands more people.