South West campaigner warns PFA chemicals should be banned in the UK
'Forever chemicals' have been found in fruit and veg through Government testing
A South West campaigner has urged the UK Government to ban so-called 'forever chemicals' after a study found them in common UK fruit and vegetables.
PFA chemicals, which are used in some pesticides, were identified in a range of foods in 2022, according to results from the latest Government testing.
These chemicals are called 'forever chemicals' as they can take centuries to break down in the environment, PFAs can accumulate in the bodies of living organisms and have been linked to severe health conditions.
What the testing analysis found
More than 3,300 samples of food and drink available in the UK supply chain were tested for residues of around 401 pesticides in 2022, according to a report from the Environment Department's advisory committee on pesticide residues (PRiF).
The Pesticide Action Network UK (Pan UK), which analysed the test results, found strawberries to be the worst offender, with 95% of 120 test samples containing PFA pesticides.
This was followed by 61% of the 109 grape samples tested, 56% of the 121 cherry samples, 42% of the 96 spinach samples and 38% of the 96 tomato samples.
Meanwhile, peaches, cucumbers, apricots and beans all saw at least 15% of samples containing PFAs, the analysis showed.
The PRiF report said that 56.4% of samples tested contained a residue of pesticides they were testing, but this was below the maximum residue level (MRL) allowed in food by law.
South West campaigner's major concerns
ChemTrust co-founder Elizabeth Salter Green told Greatest Hits Radio she has a lot of concerns. saying the country is 'sleeping walking into a nasty, toxic situation' with man-made PFA chemicals.
"We have concerns that they can disrupt our hormones," she said.
Ms Salter Green added: "Our hormones are very, very important to neurological development, to fertility, to being able to reproduce. And I think one of our major areas of concern is in neurological development of the unborn baby developing."
With neurological development of a baby happening early on, there are worries that these chemical can impact that orchestration.
"The thing about kids brains is they're not like a plug you can rewire at a later date, if the in utero development isn't quite right, we have great concerns."
There are further concerns around how PFA chemicals influence immunisation as well as the links they have to cancers.
"They are just very nasty chemicals and we shouldn't be using them. And we have just drifted, sleepwalking into their use," Ms Salter Green said.
She told GHR that these chemicals were being identified 20 years ago, with health concerns being identified.
UK in danger of becoming Europe's 'dirty neighbour'
Ms Salter Green accused the Government of 'dragging it's feet' on various legislative proposals that are being made at the EU level.
She told us the EU want to universally ban PFA chemicals, but with the UK now outside the EU, it's down to our government to decide on a ban.
"The UK is dragging its feet on all kinds of legislative proposals that are being developed at the EU level. We are once again becoming the dirty man of next door to Europe," Ms Salter Green said.
These chemicals aren't just in fruit and veg, they're in our water supply and on non-stick cookware, Ms Salter Green told us.
And for those of us who enjoy a takeaway pizza or burger, there's doubly bad news.
Ms Salter Green said: "They are found to a great extent in what I would call fast food packaging pizza boxes, hamburger boxes, so I would absolutely reduce your consumption of fast food and try and have more home cooked food because it's packaging in which the food comes that is often laced with perfluorinated chemicals."
They're also present in cosmetics, and Ms Salter Green encourages us to avoid anything with a 'flouro'-type word as an ingredient.
She said that these chemicals need to be disposed of, for the benefit of everyone.
"They are utterly man made and synthetic, we have manufactured them as human beings in the last 100 years.
"But they are now global contaminants. There is no place on Earth that is not contaminated with these substances because they are very persistent. They don't break down and they're very mobile, which means they can go everywhere.
"And we are absolutely sleep walking into a nasty toxic situation with perflorinated chemicals."
Government set 'strict limits' on PFA residue
A Defra spokesperson said: “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.”
In line with Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan, the forthcoming National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) will set out our ambition to support pesticide users to maximise non-chemical control approaches. The NAP will be published in due course.
Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) and PFAS
2022 results show that nearly all the food tested (over 98% of samples) complied with legal limits (Maximum Residue Levels – MRLs) for pesticides in that food. Under 2% of samples contain residues over legal maximum residue levels.
A wide range of pesticides are tested for in food samples each year, including PFAS chemicals.
In April 2023, we welcomed the Health and Safety Executive’s publication of the PFAS Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA). We have accepted the RMOA’s recommendations, which include work under UK REACH to reduce PFAS emissions by considering restrictions.
A small minority of samples assessed each year contain residues over legal maximum residue levels, and even in these instances we rarely find any likely risk to the health of people who have eaten the food. Whenever residues are detected, an assessment is made of the implications for health and a small number of detailed assessments are published in the report. Where necessary, further action may be taken by the Food Standards Agency.
The UK Competent authorities report for pesticide residues in food: annual report for 2022 has been published and can be found on the gov.uk website.