New research reveals that a significant number of commonly consumed food items in the UK contain persistent PFAS pesticides (‘forever chemicals’), raising concerns about their potential impact on human health and the environment.
Forever chemicals: rampant across UK food
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.
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 effects, and delays in children, including low birth weight and accelerated puberty.
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.
No river sampling
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 off 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:
| PFAS pesticide active substance | Type of pesticide | Found in (according to 2022 results of UK government residue testing programme) |
| Cyflufenamid | Fungicide | Grapes, strawberries |
| Flubendiamide | Insecticide | Spice |
| Fluopicolide | Fungicide | Cabbage, cucumber, lettuce, spinach |
| Fluopyram | Fungicide | Beans, cherries, cucumber, grapes, lettuce, peaches/nectarines, potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes |
| Lambda-cyhalothrin | Insecticide | Apricots, beans, cabbage, cherries, grapes, lettuce, peaches/nectarines, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes |
| Pyridalyl | Insecticide | Tomatoes |
| Sulfoxaflor | Insecticide | Apples, beans, cabbage, cherries, cucumber, grapes, lettuce, peaches/nectarines, spinach, strawberries |
| Taufluvalinate | Insecticide | Cabbage, cherries, spinach |
| Tetraconazol | Fungicide | Apples, beans, grapes |
| Trifloxystrobin | Fungicide | Apricots, beans, cherries, grapes, peaches/nectarines, strawberries, tomatoes |
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.
Forever chemicals: ‘absolutely unnecessary’
Mole added:
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.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (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.
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