Yahoo News Fruit and veg discovery sparks public health concern over 'forever chemicals'
Campaigners have raised the alarm after long-lasting toxins were found in common UK fruits, vegetables and spices, in a discovery which they believe could have a significant impact on public health.
Known as "forever chemicals" because they can take centuries to break down in the environment, man-made PFA chemicals, which are found in some pesticides and have been used since the 1940s, are cause for concern because they can accumulate in the body and have been linked to severe health conditions. According to results from the latest Government testing, these chemicals were identified in a range of foods in 2022.
More than 3,300 samples of food and drink available in the UK supply chain were tested for residues of around 401 pesticides in 2022, according to a report from the Environment Department's advisory committee on pesticide residues (PRiF). The report said that 56.4% of samples tested contained a residue of pesticides they were testing - however, this was below the maximum residue level (MRL) allowed in food by law.
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The Pesticide Action Network UK (Pan UK), which analysed the test results, found strawberries to be the worst offender, with 95% of 120 test samples containing PFA pesticides. This was followed by 61% of the 109 grape samples tested, 56% of the 121 cherry samples, 42% of the 96 spinach samples and 38% of the 96 tomato samples.
Meanwhile, peaches, cucumbers, apricots and beans all saw at least 15% of samples containing PFAs, the analysis showed. Pan UK is urging the Government to ban the 25 PFA pesticides currently in use in Britain, six of which are classified as "highly hazardous".
The report said the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducts a risk assessment of all pesticide residues found in the testing programme and takes further action if risks to health are identified. It said: "It is useful to note, even when a food contains a residue above the MRL, HSE rarely finds any likely risk to the health of the people who have eaten the food."
However, Pan UK said MRLs do not guarantee the quantity of pesticide found in the food is safe and do not take into account the many other routes of potential PFA exposure, such as plastic food packaging, drinking water and a wide range of household products.
Nick Mole, from Pan UK, said: "Given the growing body of evidence linking PFAs to serious diseases such as cancer, it is deeply worrying that UK consumers are being left with no choice but to ingest these chemicals, some of which may remain in their bodies long into the future.
"We urgently need to develop a better understanding of the health risks associated with ingesting these 'forever chemicals' and do everything we can to exclude them from the food chain."
He added: "PFA pesticides are absolutely unnecessary for growing food and are an easily avoidable source of PFA pollution. Getting rid of them would be a massive win for consumers, farmers and the environment."
According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATDSR), animal studies have found that PFA chemicals can cause damage to the liver and immune system, as well as potential low birth weight, birth defects, delayed development, and newborn deaths. However, it notes that most of these animal studies have tested doses of the chemicals that are "higher than the doses people experience from environmental exposure".
The agency explained: "While it is difficult to show that substances directly cause health conditions in humans, scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. More research is needed to better understand the health effects of PFA exposure."
It added: "At this time, scientists are still learning about the health effects of exposures to mixtures of different PFA chemicals. Inconsistent findings among human studies and study design limitations are some reasons why other potential health effects are not identified as associated with PFAs."
