Forever Chemicals

This article from the BBC quietly announced that all of England’s rivers and lakes are polluted with forever chemicals. These are the chemicals that take a long time, hundreds of years, to break down and so once in the environment they are there to stay.

The UK Government has published a plan to tackle PFAS (Forever Chemicals) which are linked to serious health issues like cancer, liver damage, immune system disruption, and developmental effects in children.

Like Micro-Plastics, they contaminate water, soil, and wildlife. And with the chemicals making their way into the environment that means they make their way into us, through food and drink as well as directly from watercourses.

While there is monitoring of water supply, it is unclear what action if any is being taken to remove the chemicals and what would happen if they increased beyond the currently assumed ‘safe’ levels.