‘Forever chemicals’ mean England’s waters will miss pollution targets for decades

Mapping project reveals standards for PFAS will not be met until 2063 in many areas

• Toxic substances from chemicals firm site found polluting protected river
• What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed?

The government is investigating and mapping out the sources of dangerous “forever chemicals” present in our waterways.

But England will not meet its targets for waterways having good chemical status by 2027, the government admits, in part because of the PFAS “forever chemicals” in our rivers.