Photo by Gustavo Quepóns
The UK Government published its revised Environmental Improvement Plan on 1 December 2025, setting out a roadmap for restoring England’s environment through ten long-term goals covering restored nature, air, water, chemicals and pesticides, waste, resources, climate change, environmental hazards, biosecurity and access to nature.
The cross-government plan commits to “cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas, improving the quality of the air we breathe and preventing harm from dangerous chemicals”, with Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds stating the previous administration’s plan lacked “the rigour and detail to turn intent into impact”.
However, marine conservation organisations have highlighted the plan’s lack of specific commitments on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), commonly known as ‘forever chemicals’, despite years of campaigning. The Marine Conservation Society called on the UK Government in July 2025 to commit to aligning with EU chemical regulation, including the proposed universal restriction on PFAS, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.
PFAS are a group of several thousand chemicals that remain in the environment without breaking down for generations, if ever, and are essentially impossible to remove once they enter the environment. The chemicals are widely used in everyday products including cosmetics, non-stick pans, waterproof clothing, food packaging and firefighting foam.
Dr Francesca Ginley, Chemicals Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Marine Conservation Society, stated PFAS “impact each and every one of us, every day” and are “in our homes, in the sea spray and raindrops, in our favourite wildlife, and they last forever”. The organisation’s research has identified that popular bathroom essentials, from sun cream to skincare products and makeup, contain PFAS which have a long-lasting and detrimental impact on the ocean.
The chemicals move in water very easily and have been found in all sources of water on Earth including the polar regions, miles from any industrial or consumer behaviour involving them. MCS research shows PFAS exposure has been linked to impacts on immune, blood, liver and kidney function in bottlenose dolphins, damage to immune function in sea otters, neurological impacts in polar bears, and disruption of thyroid hormones in marine birds.
A coalition of UK NGOs including Fidra, CHEM Trust, the Marine Conservation Society, Wildlife and Countryside Link and Breast Cancer UK published a proposal in July 2025 calling for the UK Government to better protect the UK from PFAS through group-based source control. The organisations urged the UK to set out a commitment in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan to meet or exceed EU regulatory protections from harmful chemicals to prevent further regulatory drift, ensuring protections are pegged to the highest standards globally.
The UK Environment Agency has acknowledged the scale of PFAS contamination, estimating that cleanup of high-risk sites could cost between £31 billion and £121 billion, with over 10,000 high-risk sites identified including rivers, drinking water sources and agricultural land. Recent studies have shown PFAS have been detected in 77% of English river sites at levels exceeding proposed EU safety thresholds, with freshwater fish in England containing PFAS concentrations over 300 times higher than levels deemed safe for aquatic life.
In November 2024, MP Munira Wilson introduced a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to establish enforceable limits on PFAS in drinking water. While such bills rarely become law without government backing, it marked a significant step in raising political awareness.
The Environmental Audit Committee launched an inquiry in April 2025 into PFAS contamination, aiming to evaluate whether the UK’s regulatory system is equipped to manage the rising risks these chemicals pose to public health and the food supply chain. Committee Chair Toby Perkins MP stated news coverage has “shone a light that the UK’s regulatory approach is far less active than in many other jurisdictions”.
Recent research published in Langstone Harbour, Hampshire, found PFAS concentrations increased significantly following sewage discharges from a storm overflow, with one particular PFAS found in seaweed at levels over 6,000 times higher than in surrounding water. This suggests seaweed may act as reservoirs for PFAS, potentially affecting marine species that feed on them and raising concerns about PFAS contamination spreading through the food chain.
Dr Ginley stated there is “an urgent need to ban these chemicals” and called for “the UK Government to ban all PFAS from all uses where there are alternatives, without delay”. A YouGov survey commissioned by MCS found 57% of respondents supported a UK Government ban on PFAS where alternatives are available, whilst only 3% opposed this idea.
The revised Environmental Improvement Plan states the government will develop a new Chemicals Strategy to establish the UK’s regulatory approach and priorities for the sustainable use of chemicals through UK REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), but provides no timeline for PFAS-specific action.