UK to Measure PFAS Levels in Population for First Time, but Answers Won't Arrive Until 2027

The UK government has launched its first major study into levels of PFAS, often called 'forever chemicals', in the population. The UK Health Security Agency is analysing blood and urine samples from the existing Health Survey for England for PFAS and other substances, including lead and arsenic. Initial biomonitoring findings are expected in 2027.

The study aims to establish typical background levels of PFAS exposure in the UK and inform future health research. PFAS have been used since the 1940s and 1950s in products such as non-stick pans, waterproof clothing, food packaging and firefighting foams because they resist water, oil and heat. They persist in the environment and the human body.

UKHSA said current evidence suggests possible health impacts are likely to be limited, but the strongest links found in large population groups have been to raised cholesterol and lower birth weights. Those are associations, not proof that PFAS cause these outcomes.

Dr Edward Wynne-Evans, UKHSA's director of radiation, chemicals, climate and environmental hazards, said PFAS are an area of significant public interest and people may have concerns about what they could mean for their health.

The study will provide the first national baseline for exposure in England, which is essential for understanding whether current levels are changing and for shaping future health research and regulation. Because it uses existing survey samples and initial results are not due until 2027, it will not provide immediate answers about individual risk or causation.

Several questions remain unanswered.

For now, the practical takeaway is that this is a baseline measurement exercise, not a clinical trial. It will tell researchers what levels of PFAS are present in a sample of the English population. It will not, on its own, establish that those levels cause any particular disease. People concerned about their individual exposure should note that the study will not provide personal risk assessments.