Climate (MENA) 
Egypt Edition 
UAE Edition 
Saudi Edition 
MENA <> India Corridor 
Logistics (MENA) 
Share
Forever chemicals rampant in the UK’s water supply: “Extremely alarming” amounts of potentially cancerous /toxic forever chemicals — human made per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAs) — have been detected in the water supplies of all but one of the UK’s water companies, with about 12k collected samples testing positive for the PFAs, an investigation by the Guardian, the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), and Watershed has found.
What are PFAs? Forever chemicals are persistent, greenhouse gas-intensive substances that take centuries or even thousands of years to break down, and certain banned kinds of the substances — PFOS and PFOA — have been linked to thyroid cancer, as well as immune system deficiencies, fertility problems and developmental defects in embryos, the news outlet writes.
How are they making it into the water? Among other industrial use cases, the chemicals are added to products including pizza boxes, food wrappers, take out containers, and microwave popcorn bags, in a bid to render the materials water-proof, stick-proof, and stain-resistant. The chemicals have been found all over the world in water, air and soil, even in remote places including the Arctic. Every US citizen tested for the chemicals has been found to have PFAS in their blood, indicating how widespread the human made chemicals are globally.
The investigation’s findings: Samples of the forever chemicals have been detected in raw and treated water tested by 17 of the UK’s 18 water companies, the Guardian notes. The DWI classifies contamination levels of the mostly banned PFOs under three categories, with the highest, tier 3 — where action must be taken to dilute the PFAs or remove the water source from public supplies — amounting to more than or equal to 100 nanograms per liter of water. The audit found PFOs in raw untreated water at 18x tier 3 levels, the news outlet notes.
PFA audits could be a solution to contamination woes: The UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is looking to establish a PFAs-dedicated monitoring agency to study the many variants of forever chemicals, the Guardian notes. “There could be more PFAs out there we are exposed to. There needs to be more broad testing,” RSC policy adviser Stephanie Metzger told the Guardian.
