What are forever chemicals, and how do they impact our health? | BBC News

0:00 Now, they've been found in homes, food, and drinking water and have been linked to serious harms such as cancer and infertility. A group of chemicals known as PFAS, also referred to as forever chemicals, are in many of our family household items. And it's part of a new BBC Panorama investigation. Journalist Katherine Nye took a test for the chemicals with worrying results. >> Teflon Silverstone, the tough non-stick surface with a heart of stone. Their discovery 60 years ago led to a revolutionary new product, Teflon, used to make non-stick pans. But these days, PAS or forever chemicals are not just found in kitchen wear. They're used to make things durable, waterproof, and greaseroof, and can be

0:45 found in clothes and electronics, medical equipment, and solar panels. Despite most being legal, once they make it into the human body, the chemicals can stay for a long time and have been linked to serious health consequences. >> For example, some PAS have been linked to thyroid problems, which affects our hormonal system. Some have been linked to kidney and liver cancer, and some PAS have also been shown to affect our fertility. >> These chemicals can make their way into our food and drink. They've been found in fish, fruit, and tap water. >> Afternoon, Katherine. >> I decided to take a test to find out if I've been affected by Forever Chemicals. Having recently had two children, I

1:34 wanted to know if they may have been affected too. >> You're doing There we go. We've checked your PAS levels in your blood and in your urine. So, have we found pas? Yes. The safe level would be less than two nanogs per milliliter. Okay. >> Okay. >> Your level is 9.8 nanogs per milliliter. >> Okay. So we definitely do find pas there. So what we need to identify >> and it's so much higher than I expected. But it also makes me worry that I have passed on a lot to my kids. >> You will have passed on for sure. >> To try to lower my levels, I'm advised to limit my exposure to products that may contain forever chemicals like hair

2:20 coloring and makeup. I'm told eating more fiber can also help. >> You will be able to to reduce that over the next 2 three years with a strategy. In Barkshire, Pam and Paul Kavanaire are preparing for the birth of their first baby. They're keen to minimize its exposure to PAS. They've invited Dr. Federica Amarti. >> Hi, nice to meet you. >> Who studied how babies and children can be affected to their home to spot possible risks. >> These pans have magical non-stick properties. Yeah. >> Um, unfortunately, there is evidence to suggest that the PAS chemicals can leech to the food that's being cooked in them. When the non-stick layer is damaged, more of those PAS chemicals are leech into your food. >> She recommends throwing away scratched pans or using stainless steel. And there's more advice.

3:14 >> When we drink tap water, we are depending on where you live at varying levels of exposure to PAS. And one of the ways to reduce that is actually just to buy a water filter. The European Commission is currently consulting on a blanket ban of forever chemicals. The UK government says it's working with regulators to inform its approach to policy and regulation. The Chemical Industries Association says regulators and industry need to work together in setting transition periods for bringing alternatives to market. Katherine Nye, BBC News. >> And Katherine is with us now. Honestly, Katherine, your face when you got the results back was quite something. But take us through the process why you decided to be part of the experiment around this as it were and to get your blood tested.

4:04 >> Yeah, it was to try and put a number and some more detail on what I had learned during the investigation was that studies show that most of us have PAS in our blood. Most people will have some. And I wanted to know what that level for me was. I'd been told that 2 nanogs per milliliter was a safe what's deemed a safe level. And so when I was told that my levels were 9.8, I was genuinely shocked. >> We could see. >> Yeah. I I went in and in my head and I don't really know why now. In my head I was like, "Oh, I live fairly cleanly. You know, I try and eat well that my levels will be lower." But of course the thing that's significant about PAS

4:50 chemicals is that it is hard to limit your exposure because they are all around us in so many products and in our environment >> and that is what is so different from saying to someone you need to change your diet or you know change what you what you eat. What can people do then? >> There are I mean the re the realistic answer is that you cannot avoid PAS chemicals completely. You can try and limit your exposure. You can do things like changing your non-stick scratch nonstick pans to stainless steel or ceramic versions. Looking at products, looking in detail at products, so cosmetics and cleaning products and trying to buy ones that are PAS free. But of course, what a lot of scientists we spoke to during this investigation said is that what is actually needed is

5:35 better regulation so that it's not just down to us >> because are these things necessarily labeled in that way so that it's easy for us to identify? Um, well, they're more likely to be labeled the other way round. So, if you do your research, if you go online, if you research companies, you can find companies that advertise themselves as PAS free, but you're a lot less likely to find a product that says very clearly on it that it does contain PAS. It's the other way around. What sort of reaction have you had so far? Not only to the story, but to to your sort of involvement in it and the fact that if your levels are high, people I mean, I'm sitting here thinking mine probably are too. >> Yes. A lot of interest. Exactly that. To be honest, kind of everyone is desperate to know what their levels are and probably potentially in the same situation as me,

6:23 kind of looking at my numbers and thinking or hoping, oh, mine are probably lower than that. And um yeah, I think there might be more people interested in knowing what their levels are. >> How do you find that out? Is it easy to get a test? >> Well, mine was a private test. It's not something that's really easy to get. People can of course pay for it if they wish to, but it's not something that's really easy and it's quite new. This is these chemicals are something that we are learning more about all the time and even in the health world, it's a fairly new thing to be going and having yourself tested for. It's quite a niche market at the moment.