Pixabay.com | A large body of water surrounded by trees. Grasmere England, Great Britain | https://garystockbridge617.getarchive.net/media/grasmere-england-great-britain-nature-landscapes-56a171 | PDM 1.0 DEED, Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – a group of 10,000 or so human-made chemicals widely used in industrial processes, firefighting foams and consumer products have been detected in drinking water sources at 17 of 18 England’s water companies. With 11,853 samples testing positive. PFAS have been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, immune system and fertility problems as well as developmental defects.
Affinity Water looks to have the larges PFAS problem with 73 raw water samples above the maximum Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) limits at five sites followed by Anglian with 22 samples and Southern Water with two samples. The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is pushing for a tenfold redulction of the limit for individual PFAS types. This would bring England and Wales closer to EU and Scotland. Additionally, the RSC wants to see more regular monitoring and creation of a chemicals agency to deal with PFAS and other contaminants.