The Environment Agency in the UK knew about the environmental threat posed by PFAS in firefighting foams as early as 2003 but did not take regulatory action until nearly two decades later.
PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” are linked to serious health issues such as cancer, reproductive issues, and more.
Over 20 years ago, the UK’s Environment Agency hired consultants to conduct an environmental review of firefighting foams with a “particular emphasis on their fluorosurfactant content”. (Fluorosurfactants are a type of PFAS.)
The consultants delivered a 200-page report, which highlighted the long-term risks of PFAS, especially their persistence and potential to harm aquatic life.
The report was meant to guide Environment Agency policy aimed at reducing environmental damage from the use of firefighting foams. But it appears nothing was actually done with the information until many years later.
This report was never released to the public. It wasn’t until recently that it was obtained by the Ends Report through a freedom of information request. That’s when they discovered that the Environment Agency was warned about the potential toxicity of PFAS decades ago.
The report’s introduction says: “When firefighting foams are released into the environment, whether it is through emergency use, training exercise or accidental spills, they may have an adverse effect on local environmental conditions and resident organisms.”
The report goes on to say that a number of the chemicals in the firefighting foams they reviewed were “toxic, persistent and possibly bioaccumulative” and that “they may have a long-term effect on the environment even after the cessation of firefighting operations.”
Over 20 years later, UK firefighters are just beginning to understand that they’ve been exposed to these toxic chemicals for decades, while residents of a town housing a major foam manufacturer are questioning why the Environment Agency failed to alert them about the chemicals’ long-term health and environmental effects.
The UK only regulates two specific types of PFAS in drinking water (PFOA and PFOS). In England and Wales, there are no restrictions on PFAS in drinking water at all.
Riccardo la Torre, national officer at the Fire Brigades Union, said, “For decades this danger has been swept under the rug despite their known presence in firefighting foams. Neglect by successive governments and employers means that firefighters have been exposed to these chemicals for far too long.”
The full report by Pippa Neill for The Guardian can be found here.
