Politicians' blood and hair tests positive for harmful 'forever chemicals'
These chemicals are dangerous to people and wildlife. It has links to increased cancer risk, reduced fertility, disruptions to hormones and immune systems, and developmental issues.
At least 17 politicians and environmentalists have tested positive for harmful “forever chemicals” in their hair or blood.
Political parties have been urged to toughen up the regulation of toxic chemicals, the “sleeping giant of pollution”, which can harm people and wildlife.
The “snapshot” analysis also revealed the presence of other harmful chemicals, including endocrine disruptors or “everywhere chemicals” and heavy metals including chromium and mercury.
Campaigners say ineffective regulation in the UK risks making chemical pollution “a hidden time bomb” for the environment and public health.
The Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL) coalition of environmental and nature groups, which led the research, is calling for bans on PFAS chemicals and endocrine disruptors for all but essential uses.
Dr Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “We usually can’t see, smell or taste them, but toxic chemicals are a growing threat to the health of UK rivers, the food industry, public health and the natural world.
“The incredible scale of chemical contamination makes this the sleeping giant of pollution, with this research a startling reminder of the worrying level of chemical contamination in our bodies.
The campaigners warned that regulation has not kept pace with the “explosion” in chemical products in everyday life, and the UK is falling behind on protections against toxic chemicals since leaving the EU.
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The chemicals are found in common consumer goods from plastic food packaging to waterproof clothing, toys, toiletries and cosmetics, and find their way into the environment, into drinking water and food – from fruit and fish.
They are harmful to people and wildlife, environmentalists warn, with the chemicals linked to human impacts from increased cancer risk to reduced fertility, disruptions to hormones and immune systems, and developmental issues.
Dr Benwell said: “The UK’s consumer and environmental protections were long ago outpaced by the massive rise in chemical pollution and now this country is falling further behind.
“The Government should take the most harmful chemicals off the shelves and out of our lives and stop the build-up of toxic chemicals in our environment.
Participants who gave samples included former Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, Labour’s Alex Sobel and Philip Dunne, former chairman of the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee.
Also taking part in the tests were environmentalist Ben Goldsmith, businessman and food campaigner Henry Dimbleby, RSPB chief executive Beccy Speight and Wildlife Trusts chief executive Craig Bennett.
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Up to seven of the 13 PFAS – substances that are found in products ranging from non-stick frying pans to toilet roll – that were tested for were found in participants’ blood, while volumes of the chemicals that could potentially present an increased health risk were detected in half the samples.
Chromium, a heavy metal which can come from industrial processes and fossil fuel combustion, was found at particularly high levels – above international averages in all the hair samples tested, and in one case 13 times that level.
Mercury levels were also higher than international averages.
An average of nine endocrine disrupting “everywhere” chemicals, such as bisphenols used in food packaging, were detected in participants’ hair, with combined levels of pollutants found to be “above” normal for the majority of those taking part, WCL said.
Ms Lucas, who left Parliament as the country’s only Green Party MP in June, said: “We now need politicians of all parties to recognise the seriousness of the threat and get tough on this crisis of chemical contamination.”
ByBeccy Speight, CEO of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
How pollution ends up in our bodies, and what impact it has on our health are questions I’ve been pondering a lot in the last few weeks since I received test results that showed some pretty high levels of toxic chemicals in my own blood and hair.
It’s easy sometimes to think of pollution as an external factor, litter on the streets and plastic on the beach, which are scourges in themselves and have an awful impact on our wildlife. But when we start to think about the pollution in our own bodies – and how it got there - I think that’s when it hits home hardest of all.
I was one of seventeen people tested in Wildlife and Countryside Link research into chemical contamination.
And I, like all of the other participants, found I had PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ in my blood.
PFAS include some really nasty chemicals that are known to negatively impact people's health.
And they’ve been found to pose risks to wildlife too. Chemicals building up in top predators like otters, whales, dolphins and birds of prey are linked to reductions in their health, fertility and lifespans.
The nickname ‘forever chemicals’ was coined because these substances stay in the environment virtually forever.
As shown by the fact that several PFAS that have been banned for years are still found in my blood.
And these forever chemicals are not just found in our bodies, but are also polluting our environment.
In freshwater, for example, these chemicals have been found in fish at worryingly high levels.
And these chemicals pass along food chains, affecting species at every level.
It’s an escalating problem with chemical production set to double or triple by 2050.
Yet the UK is falling behind other countries in banning the riskiest chemicals and improving wider regulation to protect consumers and wildlife.
With both the US and EU ahead of us on PFAS drinking water, packaging standards and bans alone.
The risks from toxic chemical pollution run through rivers, fields and even our veins.
We need political leaders to apply tougher controls, ban the riskiest products and take rapid steps to prevent chemical cocktails that harm our communities and environment.
