Hollywood actor and activist Mark Ruffalo joins UK charities, scientists and lawyers to call for ban on the addition of forever chemicals, PFAS ...
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Hollywood actor and activist Mark Ruffalo joins UK charities, scientists and lawyers to call for ban on the addition of forever chemicals, PFAS, to UK food packaging Twenty-seven health and environmental charities, filmmakers, scientists and other experts and concerned citizens have today sent a joint letter to the Secretaries of State for Environment, Business and Health calling on the government to take immediate action towards restricting chemicals of concern, Per and Poly- fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), in the UK. The letter notes that concern over PFAS in the UK and globally is significantly increasing. These “forever chemicals” can persist for over 1000 years in the environment; and are linked to a wide range of human health concerns, including cancers, fertility issues, and growth and behavioral problems. Today’s joint call to the Government to restrict PFAS is made within the framework of new film DARK WATERS (released in the UK on 28 February), which tells the true story of how Rob Bilott (played by Mark Ruffalo) fought to bring justice to a community dangerously exposed for decades to toxic chemicals, PFAS. In the UK, PFAS are used in a range of everyday products including food packaging, the manufacture, use and disposal of which represents an ongoing health and environmental risk. Once PFAS get into our environment, they spread around the globe, accumulating up food chains and causing lasting damage to many different species including polar bears, dolphins, otters and seabirds. They build up in our bodies and can cause health and environment problems for generations to come. DARK WATERS and the related book EXPOSURE written by Rob Bilott, have drawn significant attention to PFAS pollution. In the letter Mark Ruffalo and Rob Bilott highlight the urgent need for high-level political action to restrict and end their unnecessary use (see quotes below). Bilott, alongside Dr Kerry Dinsmore of environmental charity Fidra, spoke on the impacts of PFAS in the UK earlier this month in parliamentary event led by Matthew Offord MP. The letter also notes that Denmark has already committed to banning PFAS in paper and board packaging from July 2020 and the Netherlands, Norway and Germany, are proposing a complete EU- wide phase-out of all non-essential PFAS use. Letter signatories are asking the Government to give the UK public the same health and environmental protection as other countries. Despite alternatives to PFAS being available Scottish environmental charity Fidra, has recently found the use of PFAS in UK food packaging is widespread. Their petition to ask UK supermarkets to remove these forever chemicals from food packaging has already gathered over 1000 signatures at https://act.fidra.org.uk/foreverchemicals Author of the report Forever Chemicals in the Food Aisle, Dr Kerry Dinsmore of Fidra said: ‘’Fidra found PFAS in food packaging collected from 8 out of 9 major UK supermarkets, and 100% of takeaways tested. The packaging from our lunch is in our hands for only a moment, but whether recycled, composted or landfilled, the PFAS that are released can continue to cause harm for thousands of years” Award-winning actor and activist Mark Ruffalo in the joint letter states:
‘’For decades, industrial chemical companies have gotten away with knowingly polluting the
environment and risking human health for economic gain. This has gone on far too long. To protect
ourselves, our children and our environment, governments need to act now to end the unnecessary use
of PFAS."
Lawyer and author of the book “Exposure”, Rob Bilott, says in the joint letter:
"As the chemical industry’s move from PFOA to new PFAS-variant “GenX” has shown, it is not enough to
restrict individual PFAS on a one-by-one basis. All share a similar chemical structure, therefore all should
be reasonably considered as chemicals of concern.”
Signatory to the letter Dr Becky Gait, Fidra said:
‘At Fidra we would like to see unnecessary forever chemicals, PFAS, removed from products and ask UK
Ministers to show leadership to protect environmental public health.’
Ends
Media contact
Fidra: Heather McFarlane or Dr Kerry Dinsmore
t: 01620 895677
e: Heather.mcfarlane@fidra.org.uk /Kerry.dinsmore@fidra.org.uk
Joint Letter: https://www.pfasfree.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/PFAS-Joint-Letter-to-Ministers.pdf
Signatories: Mark Ruffalo, Actor and Activist; Robert Bilott, Lawyer and Author; Baskut Tuncak, UN
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Toxics; Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader, The Green Party of
England & Wales; Dr. Becky Gait, Director, Fidra; Dr. Michael Warhurst, Executive Director, CHEM Trust;
Thalie Martini, Chief Executive, Breast Cancer UK; Louise Edge, Head of Greenpeace UK Ocean Plastics
Campaign; Dr. Richard Benwell, CEO, Wildlife and Countryside Link; Chris Butler-Stroud, CEO, Whale and
Dolphin Conservation; David Cowdrey, Head of Policy & Campaigns, International Fund for Animal
Welfare; Veronica Yates, Director, Child Rights International Network; Dr. Matthew Winning, Research
Associate, University College London; Dr. James G. Dyke, Assistant Director Global Systems Institute,
University of Exeter; Astrid Perry, Associate Solicitor, Leigh Day; Prof Jacob Tompkins OBE, Director, The
European Water Technology Accelerator; Paul Knight, CEO, Salmon & Trout Conservation; Mark Avery,
Director, Wild Justice; Andy Atkins, CEO, A Rocha UK; Jennifer Lonsdale OBE, Trustee & Founder,
Environmental Investigations Agency; Sandy Luk, Chief Executive, Marine Conservation Society; Andrew
Simms, Assistant Director of Scientists for Global Responsibility and Co-ordinator of Rapid Transition;
Alliance Kate Metcalfe, Co-Director, Women's Environmental Network; Rory O’Neill, Professor, School of
Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool and Bureau member, UN Strategic Approach to
International Chemicals Management (SAICM); Jamie Page, Chief Executive, The Cancer Prevention and
Education Society; Kathy Wormald, Chief Executive Officer, Froglife; Beryl Leatherland, Convenor of the
Scottish Wild Land Group.
Notes to Editors
(1) Fidra is a Scottish registered charity and SCIO (SCO43895) working to reduce plastic waste and
chemical pollution in our seas, on our beaches and in the wider environment www.fidra.org.uk.
Fidra shines a light on environmental issues, working with the public, industry and governments to
deliver solutions which support sustainable societies and healthy ecosystems. Fidra’s work to
prevent further PFAS pollution of our planet included highlighting the use of PFAS as stain resistance
on school uniforms and resulted in most major UK retailers now offering PFAS free schoolwear.
Fidra have launched a petition to UK supermarkets to ask them to remove PFAS from their food
packaging: www.pfasfree.org.uk
(2) From Participant (Spotlight, Green Book), DARK WATERS tells the shocking and heroic story of an
attorney (Mark Ruffalo) who risks his career and family to uncover a dark secret hidden by one of
the world’s largest corporations and to bring justice to a community dangerously exposed for
decades to deadly chemicals. Dark Waters is released in the UK on February 28 th 2020.
(3) Robert Bilott’s book, Exposure, detailing his twenty-year battle against DuPont was published in the
US in October 2019 and is also now published in the UK and available via all major booksellers:
https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Exposure/Robert-Bilott/9781471189616 Robert
Bilott is a partner at the law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio where he has
practiced environmental law and litigation for more than twenty-nine years. He has been selected as
one of the Best Lawyers in America for several years running and has received numerous honors for
his work in environmental law and litigation. Rob is a former chair of the Cincinnati Bar Association’s
Environmental Law Committee and a graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida (BA) and the Ohio
State University College of Law (JD, cum laude). In 2017, Rob received the international Right
Livelihood Award, commonly known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his years of work on
PFOA. Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle against
DuPont is his first book.
(4) PFAS: Per or poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of over 4500 industrial chemicals. 4
They ae often referred to as ‘forever chemicals’ because they are slow to be expelled by our bodies
and can last for over 1000 years in the environment. 2 Despite scientists, NGOs and governments
warning of the health and environmental impacts of these forever chemicals, they are still widely
used in everyday products such as clothing, cookware, makeup and food packaging. 5 The vast
majority of PFAS ever produced are still in our environment, and more are being made and released
every day.
(5) PFAS in UK food packaging: New research commissioned by environmental charity Fidra has found
PFAS in food packaging from 8 out of 9 major UK supermarkets and 100 % of takeaways sampled. 6
Highest concentrations were more than 300 times the acceptable limit to be enforced in Denmark
from July this year. PFAS from packaging migrate directly into the food we eat and are lost to the
environment at every stage from manufacture to disposal. 4,7 Fidra commissioned testing of food
packaging for its Total Organic Fluorine (TOrF) content, a widely accepted proxy for total PFAS, by
Eurofins test laboratory in December 2019. Samples were collected from 9 major UK supermarkets
(Aldi, ASDA, Co-op, Lidl, Morrisons, Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose), 6 popular
takeaway chains (Caffè Nero, Costa, Greggs, Pret a Manger, Starbucks, Dominos) and 4 independent
takeaways. PFAS was identified in 95% of the samples tested, of which 90% are considered to be
above the level expected from background contamination. Greaseproof baking papers were the onlysamples containing little or no PFAS, and Waitrose was the only supermarket where no PFAS sample
was identified (NB only one product from Waitrose was tested, therefore this is not indicative of
their wider product range). The report concludes that the use of PFAS in UK food packaging is
widespread across supermarkets, takeaways and cafes.
(6) PFAS from packaging contaminates food: Many different forms of PFAS have been shown to
migrate from packaging and food contact materials into the food itself. These include Perfluoro
Carboxylic Acids (such as PFOA), Perfluoro Sulphonic Acids (such as PFOS), Fluorotelomer Alcohols
(FTOH), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, such as Teflon) and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Phosphate
Surfactants (PAPs). Studies have found both the PFAS that was intentionally added to the packaging,
as well as breakdown products and unintentionally added PFAS from manufacture, in the foods they
contain.
(7) Alternatives to PFAS: Denmark’s leading supermarket Coop successfully phased out PFAS from food
packaging in 2015. Restaurant chain Taco Bell has committed to phasing PFAS out of consumer
facing packaging by 2025. From July 2020, legislation will ban the addition of PFAS to paper and
board food contact materials in Denmark, based on concerns surrounding the health impact of PFAS
exposure. Due to widespread environmental contamination, PFAS cannot be eliminated from food
packaging completely (an indicator limit of 10 µg dm -2 dw will be used to distinguish added PFAS
from unavoidable background levels).Images How PFAS spread and accumulate in the environment © Fidra
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