Growing concerns over UK’s ‘forever chemicals’; cost of clean-up may top US$12b a year

Birmingham: Concerns are growing in Britain over toxic so-called “forever chemicals” in the environment, and the spiraling cost of potential clean-up efforts.

Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – which can be found in a wide variety of products such as non-stick pans, waterproof coats, and makeup – have leached into the natural environment and are almost indestructible without human intervention.

These man-made compounds are now found nearly everywhere across the globe, and scientists believe they are also in the blood of most people and animals.

Cleaning up these chemicals is time-consuming and expensive, stressed experts, adding that there are still many unknowns about how best to deal with them.

Unless more is done to limit their use, the United Kingdom faces spending more than US$12 billion a year to try to remove them from its natural environment, according to a recent study.

The Royal Society of Chemistry has called for the amount of PFAS in the water in the UK to be reduced, by lowering the limits allowed by law.

“Drinking water is definitely one of the main areas that we know people can be exposed to PFAS from. Other things include diet, or potentially exposure in your house (in things like) dust,” said its policy advisor Stephanie Metzger.

“We also have a better understanding of PFAS in water than we do in some other areas,” she added.

“We have done a lot more testing and monitoring so far of water sources, so we thought that was a good place to start because we know we have some data we can work with.”

These synthetic chemicals have been linked to health conditions ranging from infertility to cancer, as well as developmental delays in children.