Permitted levels of PFAS should be lowered tenfold and national chemicals agency created, says Royal Society of Chemistry
Acceptable levels of “forever chemicals” in drinking water should be reduced tenfold and a new national chemicals agency created to protect public health, the Royal Society of Chemistry has told the UK government.) in tap water. PFAS are a family of about 10,000 widely used chemicals that do not break down easily in the environment. Some have been linked to cancers, liver and thyroid disease, immune and fertility problems, and developmental defects in unborn children.
Cutting the limit would bring the UK into closer alignment with the EU’s stricter limit of 100ng/l for the sum of 20 specific PFAS and 500ng/l for total PFAS in drinking water. However, some member states are taking this even further, with Denmark setting a limit of just 2ng/l for four individual PFAS and some countries such as Sweden and Germany considering reducing limits for specific PFAS to 4ng/l over time.
For Loebel, the answer is in “controlling PFAS at its source” through stronger regulation of use and manufacturing, rather than trying to clean it up once it is in the environment. “Removing PFAS from drinking water and wastewater is an environmental disaster because it is very energy-, resource- and cost-intensive, and it will add to tariffs,” he said. The EU is considering universal restrictions, regulating all 10,000 or so PFAS as one class, but this is not being looked at in the UK.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said drinking water standards in England were of “an exceptionally high standard and are among the best in the world. Water companies are required to carry out regular risk assessments and sampling for any substance – including PFAS – that they believe may cause the water supply to pose a risk to human health.
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