Government still lagging behind on chemicals despite new PFAS plan

"Pollution from forever chemicals (PFAS) is one of the biggest environmental challenges we face, but the government is far off the pace in rising to it. PFAS is ubiquitous throughout our environment, including drinking water, raising implications for human health and our rivers, with adverse impacts upon aquatic life. Yet this new PFAS plan is weak and tentative.

"Whilst continued monitoring is necessary, the government should take urgent heed of an already overwhelming body of scientific evidence confirming the prevalence of PFAS and its impacts – and act now. The time for assessing restrictions is long overdue and the government needs to urgently mirror the European Union’s universal PFAS restriction that has already triggered action from both France and Denmark to ban PFAS in textiles and cosmetics. Controlling PFAS ‘at source’ in this way will reduce emissions to the environment, including drinking water supplies, rivers and coastal waters and, within sewage sludge that is applied to agricultural land.

"Urgent, tangible action is needed on PFAS to protect human and environmental health and to prevent any further rise in the already eye-watering clean-up costs. After all, as the government itself highlights in the plan, there is huge economic opportunity afforded by a transition away from PFAS."

Dr Rob Collins, Director of Policy & Science, and chemicals lead at The Rivers Trust