Persistent ‘Forever Chemicals’ Undermine Global Human Rights, Warn UN Expert

Per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often called ‘forever chemicals’, are synthetic compounds used in a wide range of consumer products. Once released they can remain in soil, water and air for centuries, and current technology cannot effectively remove them from contaminated ecosystems. Exposure occurs at every stage of the chemicals’ lifecycle – from manufacturing sites to polluted drinking water, food supplies and everyday items. Scientific evidence links PFAS to disruptions of hormone systems, impaired liver function and weakened immune responses. The chemicals can cross the placenta and have been found in umbilical cord blood and breast milk, exposing fetuses and infants during critical periods of development.

The bulk of PFAS production occurs in industrialised states, but the chemicals travel globally through emissions, international trade and the transboundary movement of contaminated waste. As a result, communities already facing poverty, discrimination and marginalisation – including workers, women, children, Indigenous peoples and people of African descent – are the first and worst exposed. This uneven distribution turns PFAS pollution into a matter of environmental justice, undermining rights to life, health, a clean environment, safe working conditions, access to information, and effective remedies. The expert highlighted that a human‑rights based analysis must ask who is poisoned, who benefits, and who sets the rules governing these substances.

In her new mandate, the independent expert said the focus must shift upstream, aiming to prevent contamination rather than merely cleaning up after it occurs. She urged an urgent ban on all non‑essential uses of PFAS, noting that waiting for absolute certainty could cause irreversible harm. The mandate also calls for protecting independent science from conflicts of interest and disinformation, and for ensuring that states, courts and other partners have reliable data to shape policy. Finally, she emphasized that the knowledge and experience of affected communities should guide solutions, linking scientific evidence with the human‑rights obligations to provide justice and remedy.