Image description: A close up shot of a striped blue school tie and navy blazer, with a yellow prefect badge in view. Image by ROBIN WORRALL / Unsplash
Potential ban on PFAS and plastic in UK school uniform
The children’s wellbeing and schools bill, which applies mainly to England and Wales and is at committee stage in the House of Lords, is poised to introduce new regulation on the cost of school uniform items, as well as the number of branded uniform items schools can require pupils to wear.
Experts are urging peers to back two amendments to the bill restricting the volume of microplastics and potentially harmful “forever chemicals” in school uniforms:
- Amendment 202A to the children’s bill calls for an almost immediate ban on the use of Pfas in school uniforms, and a requirement for manufacturers to provide a digital product passport listing the chemicals.
- Amendment 202B calls for action to be taken within 12 months on uniforms that could “endanger the health or safety of persons [or] cause unreasonable public health or environmental health risk”, with a specific emphasis on artificial fibres.
PFAS health concerns
PFAS are used around the world in a wide range of consumer products due to their ability to repel both grease and water, including non-stick cookware, food packaging, cosmetics, electronics, clothing and more. However, they can be toxic to both humans and wildlife. Two of the most studied chemicals in this family, PFOA and PFOS, have been shown to:
- Interfere with the hormonal system (so they are called endocrine disruptors)
- Interfere with the reproductive system and the development of the feoetus
- Impact the immune system and have been linked to reduced responses to vaccines in children
- Promote the development of certain cancers (e.g. kidney and testicular cancer)
It should be noted that many of the thousands of PFAS currently in use are lacking proper toxicological data.