'Deeply worrying': 'Forever chemicals' found in common UK fruit and vegetables
The chemicals can accumulate in the bodies of living organisms and have been linked to severe health conditions, ITV News Science Correspondent Martin Stew reports
Common UK fruits, vegetables and spices have been found to be contaminated with long-lasting toxins known as "forever chemicals", prompting alarm over potential impacts on public health among campaigners.
PFA chemicals - also known as forever chemicals because they can take centuries to break down in the environment - used in some pesticides, were identified in a range of foods in 2022, according to results from the latest government testing.
PFAs can accumulate in the bodies of living organisms and have been linked to severe health conditions.
More than 3,300 samples of food and drink available in the UK supply chain were tested for residues of around 401 pesticides in 2022, according to a report from the Environment Department's advisory committee on pesticide residues (PRiF).
The Pesticide Action Network UK (Pan UK), which analysed the test results, found strawberries to be the worst offender, with 95% of 120 test samples containing PFA pesticides.
The figure for strawberries was followed by 61% of the 109 grape samples tested, 56% of the 121 cherry samples, 42% of the 96 spinach samples and 38% of the 96 tomato samples.
Meanwhile, peaches, cucumbers, apricots and beans all saw at least 15% of samples containing PFAs, the analysis showed.
The PRiF report said that 56.4% of samples tested contained a residue of pesticides they were testing, but this was below the maximum residue level (MRL) allowed in food by law.
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Meanwhile, 1.8% of the samples contained a pesticide residue above this legal level.
The report said the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducts a risk assessment of all pesticide residues found in the testing programme and takes further action if risks to health are identified.
"It is useful to note, even when a food contains a residue above the MRL, HSE rarely finds any likely risk to the health of the people who have eaten the food," it said.
However, Pan UK said MRLs do not guarantee the quantity of pesticide found in the food is safe and do not take into account the many other routes of potential PFA exposure, such as plastic food packaging, drinking water and a wide range of household products.
Nick Mole, from Pan UK, said: "Given the growing body of evidence linking PFAs to serious diseases such as cancer, it is deeply worrying that UK consumers are being left with no choice but to ingest these chemicals, some of which may remain in their bodies long into the future.
"We urgently need to develop a better understanding of the health risks associated with ingesting these 'forever chemicals' and do everything we can to exclude them from the food chain."
Pan UK is urging the government to ban the 25 PFA pesticides currently in use in Britain, six of which are classified as "highly hazardous".
The organisation said ministers should also increase support for farmers to help them end their reliance on chemicals and adopt safer, more sustainable alternatives.
ITV News has contacted Defra and HSE for comment.
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