(GUF) TO PFAS OR NOT TO PFAS

The UK government has identified over 10,000 high-risk PFAS sites; that’s ten thousand places polluted with forever chemicals. Airports, MoD bases, sewage works, landfills, factories, it’s a roll call of neglect and these aren’t tucked away in some industrial estate in Slough; they’re under our feet, beside our rivers and dangerously close to the groundwater millions of us drink, including, but not limited to: -

• Fire-training grounds and airports - link
• Military bases
• Landfills and illegal dumps
• Wastewater treatment plants
• Chemical and textile factories
• Paper, packaging, and plating works
• Compost and sludge-spreading farms

The Map of Forever Pollution in Europe - link - every one of these is a chemical time bomb, not waiting to go off – they’re already going off - very, very slowly.

PFAS spread in many ways: -

• Water: PFAS leaches into groundwater and rivers straight into the drinking supply. Drinking water is the main route by which people end up swallowing PFAS, the world’s least welcome hydration additive.
• Soil: Sludge and landfill seep into crops.
• Air: Incinerators and dust spread it further.
• Food: Fish, vegetables, teas, pork, sweets, sports drinks, processed meat, butter, chips and bottled water (to name a few) carry it up the food chain
• Occupational: Firefighters, waste workers, and plant operators are on the front line.

Animal based foods especially tend to accumulate PFAS via contaminated water, soil and feed. Once PFAS enter the food chain they can magnify.

PFAS doesn’t stop at the drain. It’s turning up in biosolids, the treated sewage sludge spread on farmland. Several EU countries have banned this practice. The UK? Still reviewing it. We’re literally fertilising fields with chemicals that outlive the crops.

The UK routinely tests for just 47 PFAS compounds, a public-database count (via PubChem) lists about 7 million fluorinated chemical structures that could meet broader definitions of PFAS) – we’re not measuring contamination; we’re quantifying the level of complacency.

The Environment Agency reckons a full PFAS cleanup could cost between £9 and £10 billion a year for decades; and there’s no polluter pays fund, no liability for manufacturers; just us, the taxpayer footing another ‘legacy cost’ cleaning up a problem that corporations have made billions of profits from.

Where we’re coming across these everyday: -

Non-stick pans, waterproof jackets, stain-proof carpets, dental floss, mascara, takeaway boxes, they’re all laced with PFAS. Even so-called eco brands are tainted through supply-chain coatings. Bizarrely we banned lead in paint but still sell lipstick loaded with forever chemicals. Note: PFAS are used for water/oil/smudge resistant ‘wear’ or ‘long-lasting’ formulas (waterproof mascara, long-wear lipstick etc); those may be the higher-risk categories.

From a waste management point of view and someone interested in recycling, PFAS offer a strange, ironic effect in their roll in compostable packaging: -

Mismatch of “compostable” label + forever chemical: PFAS don’t compost/degrade, so packaging labelled as compostable but having PFAS defeats the logic of a circular/biodegradable pathway.

Contamination of compost/residual streams: If packaging with PFAS enters composting or organic recycling, the PFAS can remain, migrate into soil/biota or persist in compost.

Recycling/circular economy risk: Packaging with PFAS may disrupt recycling or result in unwanted chemicals in recycled materials. The presence of PFAS may degrade the quality of recycled output or render it unsuitable for food-contact or certain uses.

Health & environment: Since this involves food contact packaging, migration into food or exposure through packaging becomes a direct risk. Also, the environmental persistence means waste/disposal systems have to contend with it; they don’t.

Green washing risk: ‘Compostable’ or ‘eco-friendly’ packaging may carry PFAS, thus giving a false impression of low risk or full circularity.

What It Does to Us

• Wrecks hormones and thyroid function
• Raises cholesterol and damages the liver
• Weakens immunity
• Harms fertility and child development
• Increases cancer risk; especially kidney, liver and testicular

You can’t see PFAS; you can’t smell it, but you can measure it in human blood almost everywhere on Earth. There’s no ‘safe’ exposure level. PFAS doesn’t flush out - it stays - you can’t wash them out; you can only wait for them to outlive you.

The Rest of the World Has Moved

• USA: legally enforceable drinking-water limit — 4 parts per trillion.
• EU: preparing to ban almost all PFAS under REACH.
• Denmark: banned PFAS in food packaging years ago.
• UK: still “consulting.” Still “scoping.” Still “reviewing.” The UK is a world leader in PowerPoint slides.

The Lawsuits

In the US, 3M and DuPont are facing lawsuits worth tens of billions; 3M alone settled for $10.3 billion. Here in the UK? Nothing - We don’t sue polluters; we invite them to stakeholder workshops.

PFAS don’t kill fast; they corrode quietly. PFAS are the forever chemicals that never leave your water, your soil, or your body and until the government stops hiding behind guidance notes and starts acting like the grown-up in the room, that’s exactly where they’ll stay.