UK to Test Population for 'Forever Chemicals' in First National PFAS Study

Britain is finally going looking for its 'forever chemicals'. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is launching the country's first national study into PFAS levels in the population, pulling blood and urine samples from the existing Health Survey for England to establish baseline readings. The same samples will also be screened for lead, arsenic, bisphenols, phthalates and flame retardants. First results are pencilled in for next year.

PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — have been used heavily since the 1940s and 1950s because they shrug off water, oil and heat. That makes them handy in pans, clothing and firefighting foams, and nearly impossible to break down in the environment. Hence the nickname 'forever chemicals'. There are more than 15,000 types, and the science is still playing catch-up.

Two of them, PFOA and PFOS, are already banned in the UK after prolonged exposure was linked to cancer risk, according to the World Health Organization. The strongest links found in large population groups so far are to raised cholesterol and lower birth weights, the UKHSA said, though it describes the likely health impacts from PFAS as limited. Dr Edward Wynne-Evans, the agency's director of radiation, chemicals, climate and environmental hazards, told BBC Radio 4's Inside Health there are still gaps around what different exposure levels mean for an individual's long-term health.

Wynne-Evans also explained why the government doesn't recommend routine PFAS blood tests for individuals: there's no established clinical intervention if levels come back high. "If you are going to do a test where you cannot recommend an action to follow, we would not normally recommend a test," he said, adding the new study would help build the evidence base.

Concern is already running hot in communities near contamination sites, where residents have paid for their own tests. In September, blood tests reportedly found 'really high levels' of PFOA in dozens of people living near a major chemical factory. Prof Tony Fletcher of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, speaking before the announcement, said low levels of PFAS are likely in everyone's blood — and that while population-level links to adverse effects are real, the individual risk of disease is quite low. His advice: stop the ongoing exposure.

The UKHSA hopes the data will turn a patchwork of anecdotal results into something researchers can actually work with. For now, the message is wait and see — the first numbers land next year.