Blood and urine samples will be used to investigate people's exposure to PFAS. The effort is the United Kingdom government's first population study of "forever chemicals."
Here's what to know
Participants in the Health Survey for England will provide the samples for the U.K. Health Security Agency's work, according to the BBC. The agency will use them to establish baseline concentrations of lead, arsenic, bisphenols, phthalates, flame retardants, and PFAS — substances found in products ranging from cookware to firefighting foam.
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, encompass more than 15,000 types of chemicals.
Dr. Edward Wynne-Evans, the agency's director of radiation, chemicals, climate, and environmental hazards, said important questions remain.
He told BBC Radio 4's Inside Health that gaps remain in understanding "what different levels of exposure mean for an individual's long-term health".
Studies of large populations show the clearest associations with higher cholesterol and reduced birth weights. Overall, the agency described the potential health effects indicated by the evidence so far as limited, the BBC reported.
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More background
Water, oil, and heat resistance explain PFAS's appeal to manufacturers, who have used them extensively since the 1940s and 1950s. Those properties have made them useful in thousands of products, including cookware, garments, and firefighting foams.
However, PFAS resist breaking down in the environment.
Prolonged exposure to PFOA and PFOS, two types of PFAS, can increase cancer risk, according to the World Health Organization, as reported by the BBC. Both chemicals are already banned in the U.K.
Other known risks associated with the two chemicals include lower antibody levels after childhood vaccination, as well as effects on the endocrine system, including the thyroid.
In September, blood tests found what the BBC described as "really high levels" of PFOA among dozens of residents near a large chemical plant.
What's being done?
Wynne-Evans said the research would help "build an evidence base to better understand what might be happening," the BBC reported.
Wynne-Evans told Inside Health that no "established clinical intervention" exists for elevated PFAS levels. For that reason, the government does not recommend routine individual blood testing to guide everyday medical decisions.
"If you are going to do a test where you cannot recommend an action to follow, we would not normally recommend a test," he said.
Professor Tony Fletcher of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said ongoing exposure should be stopped to avoid long-term effects.
"I have met with people living in an area with contamination — they are angry," Fletcher said, according to the BBC. "What I try and explain to them is we have found these causal associations between exposure and effect in studying large populations. Although at an individual level, the chances of you getting some bad disease or some adverse health effect is quite low."
Where can I learn more?
Blood, water, and even teeth can offer clues about exposure to PFAS and other contaminants.
• Near a Lancashire chemical plant, 69% of residents tested had high-risk forever chemical levels.
• In Florida, the Navy urged well owners near bases to test their water for PFAS.
• In England, children's teeth revealed medieval lead pollution levels rivaling those in industrial-era cities.
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