Industrial lobbying Plans for tighter regulation under attack

Efforts to restrict the production of plastic "forever chemicals" that could threaten public health have been met with a large-scale coordinated attack by the multibillion-pound industries that make and use them.

- Rachel Salvidge, Leana Hosea

Industry-funded research and exaggerated claims litter the arguments made by the fluoropolymer industry against stricter regulation, a year-long investigation by the Forever Pollution Project, involving 46 journalists and 18 experts across 16 countries, can reveal.

Fluoropolymers are high-performance plastics and are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - a group of more than 10,000 human-made chemicals that will not break down in the environment for thousands of years, if ever, earning them the name "forever chemicals".

The substances are durable non-stick coatings used in an enormous range of industrial processes and consumer products. They have been in production for decades and pollution is so widespread that some have been found in water, soils and air around the world. They have been detected in fish, birds, otters, seals and whales and are likely to be in the blood of almost every human on the planet.

"What began as a so-called 'miracle,' groundbreaking technology meant for practicality and convenience, quickly devolved into one of the most pressing environmental and public health concerns of our modern world," said Michael Regan, the then administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency in a speech in 2023.

Two PFAS called PFOS and PFOA have been banned in many countries after scientists found links to cancers, thyroid disease and immunity and fertility problems. There are widespread concerns that other PFAS could cause health problems, but public interest science would take years to gather evidence to determine toxicity and cannot keep up with an industry that can relatively quickly make and sell replacement PFAS molecules.