Ministers told to get a grip on scale of ‘forever chemicals’ pollution in UK

Tougher regulations needed now, says Green MP Caroline Lucas as Tory colleague calls for monitoring

• UK risks falling behind Europe in controlling ‘forever chemicals’
• What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed?

The UK government must get a grip on the scale of “forever chemicals” polluting rivers and seas and threatening human and animal health, the Green MP Caroline Lucas has said.

The Guardian has revealed that high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as forever chemicals, have been found at thousands of sites across the UK and Europe in a major mapping project.