6th Nov 2024 08:57
(Alliance News) - Westminster is moving "at a snail's pace" to rid water of so-called "forever chemicals" previously linked to reduced sperm quality and cancer, an MP has warned.
Munira Wilson claimed Brexit was one of the reasons the UK had "fallen behind" its European neighbours on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – or PFAS – regulation.
Launching the PFAS (Guidance) bill using the Ten Minute Rule on Tuesday, the Liberal Democrat frontbencher claimed water firms will "only take steps" to reduce these chemicals in water with legally binding limits.
"PFAS are all pervasive which makes the scale of the challenge incredibly daunting, but we must start somewhere, which is why I'm calling for the government to start with our drinking water because despite all the alarming health risks I have just outlined, there are currently no statutory regulation of PFAS chemicals in England and Wales, no legal limit on the PFAS present in our drinking water, only guidance that water is 'wholesome'," Wilson told the Commons, a reference to the official Water Supply regulations.
"PFAS chemicals are forever and they are everywhere. These chemicals are in the water we drink, the clothes we wear, the food we eat and even in the rain that falls from our skies."
Wilson said her bill would give the UK's chief drinking water inspector a power to issue guidance to water companies about PFAS in water.
But she suggested the rules should go further, because "water companies will only take steps if we make them take these steps with binding limits set in law".
Wilson said: "Can we rely on mere guidance to make water companies take steps to filter out these dangerous PFAS chemicals from our water? Sadly, I don't think so.
"Trust in water companies is at an all-time low, thanks to eye-watering bills, billions of litres of water lost through leaks, sky-high bonuses and illegal sewage dumping. Against this backdrop, it's no surprise people don't trust water companies to safeguard our water quality."
Wilson turned to overseas PFAS regulations, including the EU's Drinking Water Directive which will limit PFAS in drinking water from 2026 to 0.5 micrograms per litre.
"Sadly, Brexit has meant that in the three-and-a-half years since the UK left EU Reach (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & Restriction of Chemicals) – that's the EU system of regulating chemicals – our response to the growing threat of PFAS has moved at a snail's pace and we have fallen behind," Wilson told MPs.
The bill is due to come before MPs again on January 24 next year.
By Will Durrant, PA Political Staff
Press Association: News
source: PA
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