Few groups of chemicals have attracted as much attention in recent years as PFAS. At the Environment Agency, we're working to better understand where PFAS are found, how they move through the environment, and how their impact can be reduced. It's a complex challenge, but our growing evidence base is helping us build a clearer picture and show that action can make a difference.
What are PFAS and why do they matter?
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a large and diverse group of chemicals that have been used since the 1950s in many everyday items from textiles and food packaging to firefighting foams and industrial processes. They are resistant to heat, oil and water, making them valuable in a wide range of applications. The same chemical properties that make them very useful also have a downside; they break down extremely slowly, so once they are in the environment they remain there for a long time. This is why they are often called "forever chemicals".
Understanding PFAS is not straightforward. Thousands of different substances fall into this group, and scientists are still building a clearer picture of how they move through the environment and where they can be found. Some PFAS can accumulate in wildlife and people. Concerns about their persistence and potential impacts have led to increasing efforts globally to better understand where they occur and how risks can be managed. At the Environment Agency, we've been monitoring PFAS in England's waters for more than two decades and, over that time, our understanding of these substances has grown enormously.
How does the Environment Agency monitor PFAS?
One of the biggest challenges we face in managing risks from PFAS effectively is understanding the scale of the issue. We know these substances are used in a huge range of products and activities but understanding where they end up in the environment and how that changes over time requires a lot of knowledge.
That's why we published our updated assessment of PFAS sources, pathways and environmental data. Building on earlier work from 2021, the report draws on a much larger body of monitoring information to create a detailed picture of PFAS in English rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and sources such as landfill leachate. It also draws on new evidence from fish and other aquatic animals to improve our understanding of how PFAS can build up in wildlife.
The findings show just how much our understanding has developed. We now monitor more PFAS, across more locations, and with greater confidence than ever before. We found both positive signs of improvement and ongoing challenges.
Our report shows that concentrations of some long-regulated PFAS have fallen in English rivers and fish over recent years. While PFAS remain widespread in the environment, these findings show that regulatory action to reduce emissions can lead to real environmental improvements for certain PFAS in some parts of the water environment.
At the same time, better evidence is helping us understand the issue in greater detail. We are identifying new patterns, learning more about how PFAS move through different parts of the environment and improving our understanding of where future efforts may be needed.
Turning science into action
While PFAS are monitored in many water environments across England, relatively few established environmental standards or toxicology-based thresholds are available to help interpret environmental monitoring data for many of the substances we routinely detect. That can make it difficult to consistently assess monitoring results; further investigation may be needed to understand the significance of the concentrations measured.
To help address this, scientists in our Chief Scientist's Group recently developed threshold values for several commonly detected PFAS in surface waters. The work filled an important evidence gap by providing a scientifically robust way of interpreting monitoring data for substances where no equivalent thresholds were previously available. These thresholds are not regulatory limits, but they provide a more consistent way of understanding monitoring results and help identify where further investigation may be needed
Whilst we do not currently monitor PFAS in the air routinely, we published new research reviewing the latest evidence on airborne PFAS. This work explores how these substances are released to air, how they move through the atmosphere, and how they can be measured. Together, these projects build a clearer and more complete understanding of how PFAS behave in the environment, where risks may arise and how best to shape future regulatory action.
Working together
Managing PFAS requires collective action from across government, industry and the scientific community. The Environment Agency works closely with Defra, public health organisations, water companies, regulators, researchers and industry. We regulate activities that may release PFAS into the environment and building the evidence base helps us to better understand and reduce pollution at source.
This work contributes to wider efforts across government, including delivery of the Government's PFAS Plan, to improve understanding of PFAS and reduce their impacts on people and the environment. By strengthening the evidence base and sharing our findings openly, we can help ensure future decisions are informed by the best available science.
Find out more: PFAS reports and resources
You can learn more about our work on PFAS by exploring our latest research on PFAS sources, pathways and environmental data, as well as our recent work developing PFAS thresholds for water and air. We are also reviewing other chemical groups that may have similar properties to PFAS, such as fluoroaromatic compounds. For a broader overview of how government and regulators are working together on this issue, visit Defra’s PFAS action Plan. You can also read our previous work on PFAS incineration and water thresholds.
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