A new project led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology will transform our understanding of a group of manufactured chemicals that can last hundreds of years in the environment, posing long-term risks to ecosystems and potentially human health. This will result in improved assessments of what happens to these so-called ‘forever chemicals’ in habitats, including their impacts on wildlife.
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of thousands of chemically diverse, manmade compounds that are used in common products ranging from non-stick cookware and firefighting foam to cosmetics and food packaging. Their resistance to environmental breakdown means they can accumulate in air, water, soils and living organisms.
This new UKRI-funded project will look at a wider range of PFAS compounds than has been previously investigated in the UK, to tackle critical knowledge gaps. UKCEH will be partnering with Lancaster University, the University of Birmingham and the British Geological Survey on the project, in collaboration with the Environment Agency.
The project will integrate different approaches involving lab experiments, field studies and computer modelling, to establish how PFAS compounds alter as they pass through the environment and the effects they have on plants and animals.
The project team will develop a state-of-the-art environmental model called P-FASE (PFAS Fate and Speciation in the Environment). This tool will integrate cutting-edge science to predict how a wide variety of PFAS compounds move through, accumulate in, and impact different parts of the UK environment.
Addressing knowledge gaps
UKCEH ecotoxicologist Dr Elma Lahive, who is leading the project, explained: “There is growing and widespread concern about the impacts of PFAS on plants, animals and humans, but at present very little is known about the vast majority of these compounds.
"Our project will provide the evidence needed to guide new regulations being introduced in the UK and across Europe and design more effective strategies to mitigate impacts of PFAS. It will also enable scientists and policymakers to identify pollution hotspots for ongoing monitoring but also to enable informed action to protect our environment.”
The four-year £2.35m study will address the following questions:
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What are the full range of PFAS sources to the UK environment?
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How do the physical and chemical properties of different substances influence their behaviour and movement within and between air, soil, surface water and groundwater, as well as uptake by living organisms?
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How do PFAS compounds degrade and what products are formed?
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What are their long-term biological and ecological impacts?
Harnessing citizen science
As part of the same UKRI-funded research programme, UKCEH is involved in another four-year project, to detect and track PFAS in water and wildlife.
Citizen-led monitoring will be combined with cutting-edge science to assess risks to wildlife and help establish guidelines that identify safe thresholds for compounds, to protect sensitive ecosystems.
The project will engage members of the public in ‘water blitz’ events to collect samples from rivers and support the creation of a national PFAS monitoring programme. Meanwhile, researchers will also use innovative approaches to investigate and understand how these compounds impact on species.
The £2m project, UNSaFE (Understanding the Scale, Sources, Fate and Effects of PFAS pollution), is led by Imperial College London in partnership with Brunel University, King's College London and UKCEH, as well as the Environment Agency and citizen science organisation Earthwatch.
Further information
Listen to our podcast on Forever Chemicals as part of our Counting the Earth series.