Another month another warning about water quality in the UK. Don’t get us wrong the UK system is robust and trying hard to deliver some of the best out there, but, they can do with some upgrades. Water is the next frontier as it’s so important to our daily lives.
This latest drinking water study was concerned with levels of “forever chemicals” or PFAS in the UK tap water. What are PFAS?
Put simply, PFAS is an ever expanding group of complex manmade chemicals that are used widely to make lots of everyday products. They coat pots and pans to stop things sticking to cookware, are the useful things that stop stains from upholstery and carpets, they even save lives with foam that is more effective for firefighting. Lots of industries use them as they are widespread in manufacturing.
The “sciency” bit about the PFAS molecules – they made up of a chain of linked carbon and fluorine atoms. Their carbon-fluorine bond is so strong (one of the strongest) the chemicals do not degrade in the environment. Scarily, top scientists can’t estimate an environmental half-life for PFAS, (the amount of time it takes 50% of the chemical to disappear).
The worry is that the UK needs regulation and process to reduce the number of PFAS in the drinking water as at current levels it might be too high, causing serious health issues.
Not just health issues for adults, but also children and babies in the womb, as pregnant mums to be pass water contents on to babies in the womb.
Read some more about this story on the BBC – HERE
