Final report of PFAS experts published - with ministers promising "considered response" - Jersey Evening Post
by Julien Morel · Jersey Evening PostPosted inNews
Final report of PFAS experts published – with ministers promising “considered response”
by Julien Morel 18 July 202617 July 2026
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THE work of a panel of scientists who have advised the government on its response to PFAS contamination in the Island has published its final report – although how the new Council of Ministers will respond to its recommendations remains unclear.
The PFAS Scientific Advisory Panel – which was set up in 2023 and included internationally recognised experts on the manmade carbon compound which has been linked to causing cancer and kidney disease – published its fourth and last report last month, and it has now been released by the government.
Environment Minister Mary Le Hegarat said that ministers were now “arranging technical briefings” and would come up with “a considered and evidence-based government response”.
However, the last Assembly failed to deal with one of the panel’s key recommendations: creating an “enforceable primary standard” for PFAS in drinking of 4 nanograms per litre for the sum of four most common types of the chemical group.
Previous Environment Minister Steve Luce took this proposed standard to the States for approval but the proposition fell away after a strong kick-back from Jersey Water, who warned that it would require major new infrastructure, and that a new treatment plant could cost up to £210m – something that would push up bills significantly if the utility had to fund it.
In the end, backbenchers “called in” the proposition for scrutiny, which had the effect of filibustering it out of the political term.
Other recommendations of the report, which focused on PFAS in the environment as opposed to human health, included standards around boreholes, methods of PFAS removal from water, and establishing contamination thresholds.
In April, the previous Scrutiny Liaison Committee recommended that a dedicated review panel should be set up after the election to consider the ongoing impact of PFAS in Jersey.
PFAS is a collective name for thousands of man-made carbon chains that were added to everyday items such as floor tiles, frying pans and firefighting foam, due to their ability to repel heat, oil and water.
However, dubbed ‘forever chemicals’ due to their inability to break down in the environment or human body, they have been linked to several health conditions, including kidney cancer, high cholesterol and infertility.
Of 48 PFAS compounds tested by Jersey Water, eight are present at trace levels in drinking water.
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