From Ann Wills

 (Thanks to George Pinnell for sending this.  The harmful chemicals mentioned contain fluoride.)

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The Guardian 25.3.21  “GOVERNMENT IS NOT TESTING DRINKING WATER FOR PFAS, WHICH STUDIES HAVE LINKED TO NUMEROUS HEALTH ISSUES”

Rachel Salvidge

The UK government is not testing drinking water for a group of toxic manmade chemicals linked to a range of diseases including cancers, while across the world people are falling sick & suing for hundreds of millions of dollars after finding the substances in their tap water.

Known as PFAS (per- & polyfluoroalkyl substances), or “forever chemicals” because they are designed never to break down in the environment, the substances are used for their water & grease-repellent properties in everything from cookware, clothing, furniture, carpets, packaging, coatings & firefighting foams.

When PFAS, of which there are 1,000, enter the environment, they accumulate in soil, water, animals & human blood.  Following a landmark legal case in USA, made famous by the Mark Ruffalo film Dark Waters, a huge epidemiological study was carried out that linked PFAS to high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer & pregnancy hypertension.

Separate studies make connections between PFAS & miscarriage, reduced birth weight, endocrine disruption, reduced sperm quality, delayed puberty, early menopause & reduced immune response to tetanus vaccination. Scientists found the substances can be passed from mother to baby via the placenta & breast milk.

On top of multiple class actions in USA, cases are being brought around the world.  In Australia, 2 towns adjacent to airbases using PFAS in firefighting foam have been warned not to drink their tap water, & in Italy industry is thought to have exposed 350,000 people to the toxic contaminant. It’s estimated that almost everyone in the world now has PFAS in their blood.

In England, the Environment Agency says PFAS is “ubiquitous in the environment”, particularly in its waters, making it unlikely that drinking water sources have escaped contamination. But unlike countries such as USA, where a nationwide testing scheme is under way, the UK government has so far only made plans to make plans to understand the levels of drinking water pollution.

Dept. for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) says it takes “the risks posed by PFAS chemicals very seriously, which is why we’re working at pace with regulators to better assess their presence in our natural environment & their sources.”  It says it is “developing its approach to managing risk from PFAS” but it is not testing drinking water.   Water companies do not routinely test for PFAS.  Instead, they are expected to “consider” just 2 restricted PFAS – PFOS & PFOA – in their risk assessments. According to Defra, there “have been no notifications of an event associated with elevated levels of PFOS or PFOA since 2005”.  In Scotland, only PFOA is risk-assessed.

Dr Ian Ross, the global PFAS practice lead at the consultancy Tetra Tech, says the huge number of potential PFAS sources – from airfields to industry, landfills & car washes – make risk assessment very difficult.  “Water companies may need to perform a detailed assessment of many catchments considering a multitude of PFAS sources before determining that water from each catchment is unlikely to supply PFAS-impacted water,” Ross said.  “This is more concerning now a new, lower, 10 nanogram/litre limit from the drinking water inspectorate has been introduced, which triggers consultation with health professionals.”

The industry group WaterUK said: “Companies in risk areas have monitoring in place to support the removal of PFAS, & other potentially harmful substances, to ensure drinking water is clean & safe.”

Even so, the Drinking Water Inspectorate has only set the 10ng/l limit for PFOS & PFOA, & there are no limits on the wider group of chemicals. In contrast, Denmark has a limit of 100ng/l for the total of 12 PFAS, with lower levels proposed for PFOS of 3ng/l; Sweden has set a 90ng/l for the sum of 11 PFAS; & Bavaria has regulated 13 individual PFAS to a range of limits between 0.1 micrograms (µg)/l & 10µg/l.

The EU recently revised its drinking water directive, reducing the acceptable level to 100ng/l for 20 types of PFAS & 500 ng/l for all PFAS substances. The directive came into force in January & member states have 2 years to adopt it.  It is not clear whether the UK will follow suit.  Defra said it will “consider the effect of the changes made to the directive” but made no commitment to adopt it.

Dr Paul Johnston, from Greenpeace’s research laboratory at Exeter University, said: “We’re literally flying blind on this as a nation,” adding that the government had “had plenty of heads up on this from what has been going on in the US”.   He said: “It’s quite baffling why it hasn’t actually been done in a systematic way, if only to validate the risk assessments … you need to be able to back it up with real-world analysis.”

Why you need to know about PFAS, the chemicals in pizza boxes & rainwear

Dr Julie Schneider, of the chemicals charity Chem Trust, said: “People have the right to know if the water from their tap is contaminated with these harmful chemicals. We urgently need a full assessment of PFAS contamination in drinking water in UK.  Continuous exposure to PFAS may lead to long-term adverse health effects, & drinking water is recognised as one of the main sources of our exposure to PFAS.”   An outright ban on all non-essential uses of PFAS is under discussion among EU countries, but there are no signs that the UK intends to take the same tack. “Every year of delay in regulating these chemicals means an increasing level of exposure due to their extreme persistence & capacity to accumulate in the water & the wider environment,” said Schneider.

Ann