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Panorama The Truth About Forever Chemicals (01 Dec 2025)
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00:00On Panorama, we investigate the toxic chemicals you can't see.
00:11The most harmful chemicals, you can smell them, you can see them.
00:17This is one of the thousands of sites around the UK that are discharging into the environment.
00:24Forever Chemicals, also known as PFAS, are used in thousands of products worldwide.
00:31They're in our homes, our food, and our water.
00:35We've all been exposed to them.
00:38We've checked your PFAS levels.
00:40Have we found PFAS? Yes.
00:42The vast majority are legal, but some have been linked to serious harms.
00:48Some PFAS have been linked to kidney and liver cancer.
00:51By the time these effects happen, it's too late to do anything.
00:54The PFAS is there.
00:56We uncover the household items that contain forever chemicals.
01:01We've got here a really popular brand of children's coat for three-year-olds.
01:06This has been treated with a coating that resists water.
01:09That is PFAS.
01:10I'm speechless, really, to find that out.
01:14And ask, is the government doing enough to protect us?
01:18How concerned are you about them?
01:20Very concerned.
01:21I think we're really behind a lot of other countries on how we're dealing with PFAS pollution.
01:26I was a very agile person.
01:42Football, cricket, judo, athletics, marathon running.
01:47I mean, we went walking and I collapsed.
01:53We then were waking up in hospital and then found out my lung capacity at that particular point.
02:00It was equivalent to someone at 81 who had smoked all his life.
02:06I was 51-year-old and never smoked.
02:09Darren Ayres, now 59, can't know for sure, but is worried some of his health problems may be connected to a factory where he once worked.
02:19He used to handle forever chemicals there, including one that's now banned.
02:27I believe that the forever chemicals have impacted entirely on my health and my future health.
02:40The health impact has made me a shell of what I shouldn't be.
02:48Completely devastating.
02:52The term forever chemicals refers to per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS for short.
03:03There are at least 10,000 different kinds of PFAS.
03:07I've come to the Royal Society of Chemistry to find out more about them.
03:13PFAS are a group of chemicals. Some people say there's over 10,000, 15,000 or even more.
03:19But they all share a common structure of having a carbon bonded with a fluorine atom.
03:25And this is an extremely strong bond chemically, which makes them extremely durable.
03:30And that's why sometimes they're called forever chemicals.
03:34Their discovery 60 years ago led to a revolutionary new product, Teflon.
03:41Teflon silverstone, the tough nonstick surface with a heart of stone.
03:47Used to make nonstick pans and lots of other products, its ads were targeted at busy home cooks and it became an instant hit.
03:57PFAS can also be heat resistant, water and oil resistant.
04:02Forever chemicals are used in anything from waterproof clothes and electronics to medical equipment and solar panels.
04:10But there's also a dark side.
04:16In the 1990s and 2000s, American company DuPont was accused of dumping a forever chemical called PFOA, contaminating water supplies in West Virginia.
04:28Hundreds of people in the state developed serious illnesses such as cancer.
04:33Since then, DuPont and other PFAS manufacturers have denied liability, but paid out more than $2 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits across the US.
04:47These PFAS don't break down.
04:51So once they get into our bodies, they stick around and they build up little by little until they get to a point where it just starts to interfere with our systems.
04:59And depending on the kind of PFAS, they can affect our body in different ways.
05:03For example, some PFAS have been linked to thyroid problems, which affects our hormonal system.
05:09Some have been linked to kidney and liver cancer.
05:12And some PFAS have also been shown to affect our fertility.
05:16So we're talking about a really serious impact here.
05:19Yeah.
05:20When we are exposed to PFAS over time, by the time these effects happen, it's too late to do anything.
05:25The PFAS is there.
05:26There have been a series of international studies looking at the potential impact of PFAS on health, including on the development of unborn babies.
05:37PFAS does pass through the placenta to the baby, and it can affect the fetus's development.
05:47I've come to Bristol to meet Professor Kate Northstone.
05:50She's been tracking the health of 14,000 people since the mid-1990s, including hundreds of pregnant women and their babies.
06:02What kind of information were you collecting about those mothers?
06:06When the women were pregnant, we collected blood samples from them.
06:10And then when the children were born, we were able to measure really carefully their birth weight, their birth length and their head circumference, amongst other things.
06:19US scientists asked for access to the samples so they could do their own studies.
06:26We shipped over about 800 samples to the Center for Disease Control in America and they measured various levels of all of these different persistent chemicals that exist in our environment.
06:39Every single woman in our study had showed some level of these chemicals in their blood.
06:45What has the data you've got from that study been able to tell you about PFAS chemicals?
06:52So we found that the women who were in the highest third had babies who were on average about 100 grams smaller in terms of weight compared to the women who have the lowest third level of chemicals.
07:05So it suggests that the exposure to these chemicals may in some way reduce the way that our children grow in the womb.
07:13So some kind of futile growth restriction.
07:16I have two children. I want to know if my family has been affected by forever chemicals.
07:26Dr. Sabine Donnet specialises in preventative health. She's going to test my blood and urine for forever chemicals.
07:41Take a deep breath in.
07:48I'm not great with needles, but I've decided to give it a try.
07:53You're doing it very smoothly.
07:54There we go.
07:56So what we're trying to do here is really just identify, do you have PFAS in your blood?
08:05And I can tell you, you will, because I've never seen anybody that doesn't have.
08:10And what we then need to identify is which ones are you most in contact with?
08:14Can you eliminate those? And then we'll advise you on how to, if you can.
08:19While I'm waiting for my results, I head to Lancashire to meet Professor Patrick Byrne.
08:30He uses a remote-controlled boat to collect samples for testing.
08:35With a lot of these chemical pollutants like PFAS, you can't see it, you can't smell it, you can't taste it.
08:41So we almost believe it doesn't actually exist.
08:44But unfortunately, chemical pollution is widespread across the UK.
08:48Professor Byrne and I set off at the River Wyre in Lancashire, which he says has a particular problem.
09:01In the UK, we have lots and lots of potential sources.
09:14Is that it? That's it, yeah.
09:17So the effluents from the AGC plant here, we know contain a variety of PFAS chemicals.
09:28The AGC chemicals plant manufactures the base materials used to produce heat-resistant and non-stick products.
09:36Until 2012, this site used the forever chemical PFOA, a specific type of chemical within the PFAS family, as part of this process.
09:47It voluntarily stopped using PFOA before it was banned in the UK in 2020 due to its links with cancer.
09:54The company now uses another forever chemical called EEA-NH4.
10:04Some is discharged into the river as part of effluent through this outflow pipe.
10:09So we know that one particular chemical, EEA-NH4 is discharged from the AGC plant into the estuary here.
10:18AGC chemicals recognises that EEA-NH4 is reprotoxic, meaning it's associated with infertility and developmental disorders.
10:28Because there are no laws banning its release into the environment, AGC chemicals has a permit to do so.
10:38And that's totally legal?
10:40Totally legal.
10:41Yeah.
10:42AGC chemicals told Panorama it has been able to reduce emissions of EEA-NH4 being discharged into the river from nearly three quarters of a tonne a year to less than 10 kilograms in the first six months of this year.
10:59Downstream in the Weyer Estuary, Dr. David Megson has carried out extensive research on chemical contamination.
11:13Hi David, you alright?
11:14Yeah, really good, thanks.
11:15Nice to meet you.
11:16And says there are many other sources of PFAS impacting Britain's rivers.
11:20I've tested the water coming out of here and we've found hundreds of PFAS in the water in the vicinity.
11:27How concerned are you about them?
11:29Very concerned.
11:30I think we're really behind a lot of other countries on how we're dealing with PFAS pollution.
11:35He says effluent from wastewater treatment plants and runoff from landfill are major sources of forever chemicals in our rivers.
11:43And that can affect some fish.
11:45The chemicals are toxic, they're persistent, they're bio-accumulative, and they end up in our fish.
11:51Personally, I've always thought eating fish was a good thing.
11:54They should be, but thanks to years of chemical pollution, there's a lot of nasty toxic pollutants within the fish as well.
12:07Dr Megson's also concerned that PFAS are contaminating other foods.
12:13You're gonna have to explain why you brought me for this picnic.
12:16Again, a bit like the fish, thanks to what we've done with our chemical pollution, there's gonna be PFAS in every one of the items that we've got in front of us here.
12:24So why would an innocent-looking strawberry have these chemicals in it?
12:29In some instances, PFAS are added to our pesticides to help the pesticide stick better to the fruit, so when it rains, our pesticide doesn't wash off.
12:41The European Food Safety Authority says our greatest exposure to forever chemicals comes from food, particularly fish, meat, eggs, fruit and fruit products.
12:54OK, would you like a glass of wine?
12:58Is this safe to drink?
13:00The wine is probably the item on this picnic basket that contains the most PFAS.
13:07Why would this have the most in it?
13:08So, pesticides are applied to the grapes.
13:13We then use hundreds of grapes to make our bottles of wine.
13:17We concentrate everything up, and as the wider pesticide breaks down, that PFAS bit is left behind.
13:23I don't want to drink it now.
13:26No.
13:30Studies suggest there's a statistical link between some forever chemicals and ill health,
13:35calculated by looking at large groups of people.
13:40What it can't tell us is what our individual risk is.
13:48In Berkshire, Pam Kavanagh is preparing for the birth of her first baby.
13:52She and her partner, Paul, are keen to minimise their baby's exposure to chemicals.
14:01They're being visited by Dr Federica Amati.
14:05Hi, nice to meet you.
14:07She's studied how babies and children can be affected.
14:12I want to make sure that I do the right things to protect my baby and the family as well as they grow up.
14:20Pam has asked Dr Amati to identify potential sources of forever chemicals in her home.
14:27These pans have magical non-stick properties thanks to PFAS chemicals.
14:33Unfortunately, there is evidence to suggest that the PFAS chemicals can leach to the food that's been cooked in them.
14:40When the non-stick layer is damaged, more of those PFAS chemicals leach into your food.
14:45If they are scratched, do get rid of them.
14:48But if you have a stainless steel pan or if you have ceramic, that's really better to cook with, especially at higher heat.
14:54When we drink tap water, we are, depending on where you live, at varying levels of exposure to PFAS.
15:06And one of the ways to reduce that is actually just to buy a water filter,
15:11whether that's a jug that you can pick up from the supermarket, which has filters in it,
15:15or you can get one that you can get installed into your actual sink.
15:18This is the sitting room.
15:20And what do you think I should think about in terms of the little one over here?
15:25So, carpets can be treated with PFAS to make them more stain resistant.
15:30So, hoovering your carpets every day and making sure you ventilate the room by opening the windows every single day is a good idea,
15:37because it really collects as house dust.
15:38With Dr Amarty and Pam looking for potential forever chemicals in the home.
15:49Hi Stuart, you alright?
15:50I'm very well, thank you.
15:51I've come to meet Professor Stuart Harrod, who's also worried about children's exposure to forever chemicals.
15:59Young children are at a key stage of the development of all sorts of important biological systems within the body.
16:05And therefore, that means that they're much more vulnerable to the adverse effects that this exposure might cause.
16:15There are some products aimed at children which claim to be PFAS free, but aren't.
16:21Professor Harrod's agreed to test this child's coat from Mountain Warehouse.
16:25Although there's no obligation to say if forever chemicals are used, the company's website says none of its children's products are made with them.
16:36So we know outdoor clothing, for example, if that comes into prolonged contact with human skin,
16:44there's the potential, if they have PFAS in these fabrics, for it then to be absorbed across the skin.
16:50The professor's test result reveals the presence of PFAS in the coat.
16:56Dr Amarty shows it as an example to Pam.
17:00We've got here a really popular brand of children's coat for three year olds.
17:05This coat literally tells you this fabric has been treated with a coating that resists water and therefore gives it improved durability in wet conditions.
17:13That is PFAS.
17:15I'm out of words, speechless really, to find that out.
17:18Mountain Warehouse told Panorama it's working to eliminate PFAS from all its products as soon as possible,
17:27and that its children's clothing manufactured since 2023 is PFAS free.
17:31It says the jacket tested for Panorama was from a small amount of old stock manufactured more than three years ago.
17:41And although the coat meets UK safety standards, it's now withdrawn it from sale.
17:46Back in Lancashire, the Environment Agency is testing the soil in gardens and allotments close to the AGC Chemicals site.
18:04They're trying to work out if local people are at risk from the now banned forever chemical PFOA.
18:13It was used legally here by AGC Chemicals and before it, the chemical company ICI.
18:21Of all the samples that were taken, roughly 99% had this particular chemical within it.
18:30It is a chemical that can bioaccumulate, so once it goes into the environment, it has the potential to stay there.
18:39The Environment Agency found the average amount of PFOA in the allotment soil to be four times the level it assesses as safe.
18:52Wire Council has told allotment users to take a better safe than sorry approach to eating their own produce.
18:59AGC Chemicals told Panorama it recognises the concerns of residents whose houses were built close to the ICI site after it closed.
19:13It says its chemical processes and products are already rigorously monitored and controlled and is compliant with current UK and EU laws and regulations.
19:23It says both it and an independent third party it's commissioned are investigating legacy contamination and it's committed to sharing the results with the relevant authorities.
19:41Darren Ayres worked in the chemicals industry for 30 years.
19:45He's particularly concerned that repeated exposure to the Forever Chemical PFOA while working at AGC Chemicals from 2007 to 2014 could have contributed to some of his health problems.
20:01No person who were working with it knew the effects of this. It was called soap. So we mixed in open tubs, containers. I was constantly taking pipework off, discharging the contents and then routinely cleaning these things out.
20:26So it was a constant exposure. It was a constant exposure.
20:33Darren's blood has been tested for Forever Chemicals including PFOA and his levels were lower than he expected at three nanograms per milliliter.
20:43It could mean he avoided contamination or the PFOA has moved from his blood to his organs. He'd need more tests to confirm this.
20:51I'm embarrassed to go out because people see me shuffling or trying to walk or in a wheelchair. I can't do anything. I can't ride a bike. I can't walk with the grandkids. I can't take a dog for a walk. I would like to see my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, my great-niece and nephews grow up. I ain't gonna get that.
21:12AGC Chemicals told Panorama it would be inappropriate to comment on the allegations of individual former workers.
21:22It says it strives to meet the highest standards to safeguard staff, health and security at work and that the health and safety of employees past and present is of utmost importance.
21:34The area around AGC Chemicals is far from the only contaminated site in the UK.
21:43The Environment Agency says there are thousands of places where PFAS pose a potential risk including landfill sites, wastewater treatment works, airports and paper and textile factories.
21:57The scale of the challenge is huge. There's potentially 10,000 sites around the country. It is going to take some time to really address these issues and it is going to be costly. Anywhere between 30 billion and 120 billion pounds.
22:18I'm going back to see Dr. Sabine Donnet to get my own results. She says anything above two nanograms per milliliter of blood is associated with an increased risk to health.
22:38Hello, Catherine.
22:39I've had two children in recent years and pregnancy means I could have passed some PFAS onto my children.
22:47So could that have lowered my levels?
22:52We've checked your PFAS levels in your blood and in your urine.
22:56And I know it is always nerve-racking that you're saying do I have anything in my blood that shouldn't be there.
23:01But everybody that we have measured over the years has got PFAS levels.
23:06OK, so have we found PFAS? Yes.
23:08OK, so what's more important is to really just try to find out how do you compare to a safe level.
23:14The safe level would be less than two nanograms per milliliter.
23:19OK.
23:20Your level is 9.8 nanograms per milliliter.
23:27OK, so we definitely do find PFAS there.
23:29So what we need to add then to...
23:30And it's so much higher than I expected.
23:32I thought mine would be lower because I've recently had two children.
23:37Yeah.
23:38It would have been higher before the pregnancies, for sure.
23:41Yeah.
23:42But it also makes me worry that I have passed on a lot to my kids, if I had a lot before.
23:48You will have passed on, for sure.
23:52Although my levels are high, there are ways to reduce them over time.
23:57Cutting out some everyday products that use forever chemicals should help.
24:01How are we going to help you?
24:04OK, it's really going to be identifying as in where are you in contact with PFAS.
24:09And it can be anything from your hair colour to make-up and clearly within the household.
24:14Cleaning products, things like that.
24:16Oh, God.
24:17OK.
24:18Bring down your exposure.
24:20Yeah.
24:21Are we going to be able to bring the level to zero?
24:23Unlikely.
24:24But you will be able to reduce that over the next two, three years with a strategy.
24:32And it's not just me that's being affected.
24:35The UK doesn't have an official safe level.
24:38So tends to use the European Food Safety Authority figure as a benchmark.
24:44It set a safe intake level for the main PFAS that accumulates in the body at 4.4 nanograms per kilogram per week.
24:52But its analysis of what people in the UK eat suggests many of us are over that limit.
24:59Even its most conservative estimates suggest children are routinely twice the safe level.
25:05While toddlers could be around seven times what's considered safe.
25:11I want to know whether any action is being taken.
25:15We're banning them one by one.
25:17And it's taking us about five to ten years to ban each chemical.
25:20So each time we ban one, the manufacturers move on to the next one.
25:24I feel like it should be proven to be safe before it's discharged into the environment.
25:29The European Commission has decided it will take too long to gather evidence proving the harms of each chemical.
25:36Instead, it's consulting on an outright ban of all 10,000.
25:45The UK government says it's looking to ban or restrict some chemicals, but has not committed to a blanket ban.
25:52The UK government says it's looking to ban.
25:57Hi everyone, my name is Stephanie Metzger.
25:59I work for the Royal Society of Chemistry.
26:01The RSC has over 60,000 members across the globe.
26:04In September, a parliamentary committee took evidence about whether the government's regulation of forever chemicals is fit for purpose.
26:15We need to look at the entire life cycle of the chemical.
26:18How it's manufactured, how it's used, and how it's managed at the end of its life.
26:22Controlling those risks at all those stages.
26:25Stephanie Metzger says action is needed now.
26:28Do you think the onus here is on individuals or on government to protect the public from the harms of PFAS?
26:35Ultimately, this is something that is a very widespread problem.
26:39And it is something that the government is most enabled to take action on and to protect us.
26:47The Department for the Environment told Panorama it's committed to protecting human health
26:52and the environment from the risks posed by PFAS.
26:56That it's working at pace together with regulators to assess levels of PFAS in the environment,
27:02their sources and potential risks to inform its approach to policy and regulation.
27:11Do you think that the UK should be following the EU in looking to ban PFAS chemicals?
27:17I think the UK is actively considering that.
27:21But there's been a lot of pushback from the industry.
27:26The Chemical Industries Association says it recognises the importance of transitioning away from those PFAS
27:34with an unacceptable risk, as well as those that have a high probability of presenting unacceptable risk.
27:40Industry is already working to transition away, but this is not straightforward.
27:45And that regulators and industry need to work together in setting transition periods for bringing alternatives to market.
27:54PFAS is everywhere. They are so persistent in the environment and in our bodies that it falls into this category of irreversible harm.
28:02Even if we're not totally sure of the full picture yet, if we don't do anything now, it will be too late once we get there.
28:11Forever chemicals have been used to create products we all depend on.
28:14But decades after their discovery, there's now a growing body of evidence linking them to serious health concerns.
28:23Oh, yeah.
28:29We all come back.
28:33Wait, tell me how.
28:35We do that.
28:36We go back to the UK and our age of 25% of all day and we retire.
28:40And COVID