9th Report - Addressing the risks from Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Key findings

• PFAS are present in nearly everyone's blood and across UK rivers, soil, and wildlife, with scientific evidence linking them to cancers, immune suppression, fertility and development problems.
• UK REACH is too slow to restrict PFAS; the EU added 47 substances to regulatory lists since 2021 while the UK added zero, creating regulatory divergence that disadvantages UK manufacturers and increases public exposure.
• The Government's PFAS Plan relies heavily on voluntary industry initiatives and monitoring rather than preventative restrictions, conflicting with the environmental principles the Government committed to apply.
• Non-essential PFAS uses in food packaging, clothing, and cosmetics should be restricted from 2027; essential uses require group-based regulation to prevent harmful chemical substitutes.
• UK needs clarity, investment, and approved methods for PFAS remediation and destruction, including assessment of incineration capacity and non-incineration alternatives.

Recommendations

• Government must act in line with environmental principles, applying preventative and precautionary action to reduce cumulative PFAS exposure; explain in its response how due regard to the precautionary principle informed its PFAS approach.
• Use existing EU-UK dialogue mechanisms to align UK REACH with EU REACH where possible, avoiding regulatory divergence that disadvantages UK manufacturers and increases public exposure.
• Reform UK REACH by March 2027 to accelerate PFAS restrictions; set targets at half statutory maximum timescales and resource the Health and Safety Executive to meet accelerated timelines.
• Introduce restrictions on PFAS in non-essential applications (food packaging, clothing, cosmetics) from 2027; where exemptions are granted for essential uses, shift from substance-by-substance to group-based regulation to prevent replacement with structurally similar harmful alternatives.
• Invest long-term in research, biomonitoring, and enhanced screening for high-exposure groups; introduce statutory limits on PFAS in food and agricultural pathways.
• Hold polluters accountable for PFAS release into the environment; ensure they pay for cleanup and are effectively deterred from future emissions.
• Publish approved PFAS remediation and destruction methods; invest in scalable non-incineration technologies; assess whether current incineration capacity is sufficient for rising PFAS waste volumes.

Key actors

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Environmental Audit Committee, Emma Hardy MP (DEFRA Minister for Water and Flooding), Professor Martyn Kirk (Australian National University), Professor Elsie Sunderland (Harvard University), Professor Michael Depledge (European Centre for Environment and Human Health), European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)