April 10, 2024

10:04

Monica Piccini – Special to Cenarium Agency**

New research reveals that a significant number of commonly consumed food items in
the UK contain persistent PFAS pesticides, raising concerns about their potential
impact on human health and the environment.

Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) conducted an analysis on the most recent
findings from the UK government’s residue testing programme. The results unveiled the
presence of 10 distinct PFAS pesticides in various fruits, vegetables, and spices such as
grapes, cherries, spinach, and tomatoes. Among these, strawberries emerged as the
primary culprits, with PFAS detected in 95% of the 120 samples examined.

Approximately 10,000 chemicals have been classified as ‘forever chemicals’ due to
their persistent nature, enabling them to remain in the environment and accumulate in
the bloodstream, bones, and tissue of various organisms, including humans. The
degradation period for PFAS in the environment is estimated to vary from a decade to
well over 1,000 years.

Read also: Organic coffee production in Apuí is affected by the dumping of pesticides in the region

Approximately 10,000 chemicals have been classified as ‘forever chemicals’ due to
their persistent nature, enabling them to remain in the environment and accumulate in
the bloodstream, bones, and tissue of various organisms, including humans. The
degradation period for PFAS in the environment is estimated to vary from a decade to
well over 1,000 years.

According to CHEM Trust, a recent study found that PFAS have been detected as far as
in the Arctic (123 tons) and North Atlantic oceans (110 tons).

Dr. Shubhi Sharma from CHEM Trust explained: “PFAS are a group of entirely human-made chemicals that didn’t exist on the planet a century ago and have now contaminated every single corner. No one gave their consent to be exposed to these harmful chemicals, we haven’t had the choice to opt out, and
now we have to live with this toxic legacy for decades to come. The very least we can do is to stop adding to this toxic burden by banning the use of PFAS as a group.”

Health and Environmental Impact

Despite significant evidence illustrating the widespread presence of ‘forever chemicals’
in the bloodstreams of most individuals, there is a scarcity of research in the UK
exploring the associated health issues. This circumstance is often exploited by both the
government and the chemicals industry to postpone necessary actions.

Nonetheless, peer-reviewed research carried out in other nations have established links
between PFAS exposure and various severe health concerns, such as increased cancer
risk and reductions in fertility as well as the immune system’s capacity to combat
infections.

Childhood exposure to PFAS is of significant concern due to its association with
behavioural changes, developmental e`ects, and delays in children, including low birth
weight and accelerated puberty. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/7/691

Nick Mole, PAN UK’s policy officer, noted: “Given the growing body of evidence linking PFAS to serious diseases such as cancer, it’s deeply worrying that UK consumers are being left with no choice, but to ingest these chemicals, some of which may remain in their bodies long into the future.”

“With some plastic food packaging also contaminated with PFAS, and PFAS present in
UK drinking water and soil, we urgently need to develop a better understanding of the
health risks associated with ingesting these ‘forever chemicals’ and do everything we
can to exclude them from the food chain.”

Currently, there are 25 PFAS pesticides being used in the UK, six of them falling under
the classification of ‘Highly Hazardous’. Among these is lambda-cyhalothrin, an insecticide considered both a ‘forever chemical’ and extremely toxic to both humans and bees.

The Environment Agency doesn’t conduct regular sampling of rivers for any of the 25
PFAS pesticides presently used in the UK. Consequently, the degree to which these
chemicals are leaching o` agricultural lands to pollute rivers and other water reservoirs
remains uncertain.

In 2022, an astounding 9,200 kg of lambda-cyhalothrin was administered across 1.69
million hectares of UK land, which equals 11 times the size of Greater London. Typically,
farmers remain unaware that they are applying ‘forever chemicals’ to their crops as
there is no label information provided.

As per PAN UK’s analysis of the latest testing results from the UK Government Expert
Committee on Pesticide Residues in Food (PRiF) in 2022, the 10 PFAS pesticides
identified in UK food were as follows:

PAN UK’s discoveries align with recent studies indicating that traces of 31 distinct PFAS
pesticides were identified in European fruit and vegetables from 2011 to 2021.

“Pesticides are the only chemicals that are designed to be toxic and then release
intentionally into the environment. Despite this, the UK government’s much-delayed
plans for limiting the negative impacts of PFAS focus solely on industrial chemicals,
ignoring pesticides entirely.”

“PFAS pesticides are absolutely unnecessary for growing food and are an easily
avoidable source of PFAS pollution. Getting rid of them would be a massive win for
consumers, farmers, and the environment,” added Mole.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural A`airs (Defra) spokesperson shared
the following statement:

“We set strict limits on the pesticides residue levels in both food for consumers and
feed for animals. These limits are set to protect public health and are set below the level
considered to be safe for people to eat as well as applying to both food produced in the
UK and those imported from other countries.”

PAN UK is urgently calling on the UK government to ban the 25 PFAS pesticides currently
in use and to increase support for farmers in shifting away from chemical dependency
towards safer and more sustainable alternatives. In line with health and environmental
NGOs, the organization is emphatically advocating for the UK to work towards achieving
a PFAS-free economy by 2035.

(*) Monica Piccinini is a writer focusing on environmental, health and human rights issues.
(**) This content is the responsibility of the author.