The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has published the government’s response to its report on regulating so-called ‘forever chemicals’ - Addressing the risks from Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).
In April, the Committee called for the government to allow only essential uses of PFAS and to rapidly restrict PFAS from non-essential consumer products such as food packaging, cookware and school uniforms.
However, the government offers no new commitments on rapidly restricting PFAS and says restricting PFAS to essential use only “presents additional complexities”.
The government says it wants to enable industry to transition to safer alternatives, but that it is waiting to see the results of EU REACH decisions and will consider where essential-use approaches have been helpful in other countries.
While there is “plausible evidence that a risk of serious or irreversible pollution could occur if PFAS emissions continue” due to their very high persistence, the government commits to no further actions beyond those already set out in its PFAS Plan, published in February.
However, the government does say that it wants UK protections against chemical regulation to align more closely and to “reduce unnecessary friction” with the European Union, the UK’s “closest trading partner”.
Click here to download the Government Response
Ministers cite “constructive conversations” with the EU at meetings of environmental regulators, as well as the chemicals industry’s engagement with the EU, and say they are exploring opportunities for technical exchanges on PFAS.
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