Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have become one of the most pressing environmental and public health challenges of the 21st century. Known as "forever chemicals" due to their remarkable ability to resist degradation, PFAS now contaminate air, water, soils, and biological systems across the globe. Their persistence, mobility, and potential toxicity have led to an international scientific effort to understand how they move through ecosystems, how they affect living organisms, and how societies can mitigate their risks.
In the United Kingdom, the newly launched PFAS research programme led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) is one of the most ambitious efforts to date to tackle these pervasive pollutants. This UKRI-funded, four-year, £2.35 million project aims to transform the understanding of PFAS in the environment and develop sophisticated, science-based strategies to identify and limit their spread. Working in partnership with Lancaster University, the University of Birmingham, and the British Geological Survey (with collaboration from the Environment Agency) UKCEH will study the multitude of ways PFAS behave, break down, and affect ecosystems and potentially human health.
Understanding the PFAS Landscape
PFAS refers to a vast group of over 12,000 industrially manufactured chemicals used since the 1940s in countless product, ranging from fire-fighting foams, textiles, and food packaging to electronics and medical applications. Their chemical structure, featuring highly stable carbon-fluorine bonds, resists natural processes of decomposition, resulting in decades-long persistence even when released in trace amounts. This durability means PFAS can migrate through soil and groundwater, circulate globally in the atmosphere, and bioaccumulate in organisms. Various studies have already linked exposure to certain PFAS (most notably PFOS and PFOA) with cancers, liver dysfunction, immune suppression, and developmental harms. However, the vast majority of PFAS remain poorly studied, with almost no data on their environmental fate, breakdown pathways, or biological impacts.
The challenge that the UKCEH-led initiative embraces is twofold: closing this critical knowledge gap and producing a predictive capability for understanding how PFAS move through the environment under varying climatic and ecological conditions.
The Goals of the UKCEH-Led Programme
At its heart, the project seeks to answer four central questions:
- What are the full range of PFAS sources contributing to pollution within the UK environment, from industry to households and atmospheric transport?
- How do the distinctive physical and chemical properties of different PFAS influence their movement through air, soils, surface waters, groundwater, and biological organisms?
- How do PFAS transform -- chemically and biologically -- once released, and what degradation products emerge?
- What ecological and long-term biological effects do PFAS have on wildlife and habitats?
Under the leadership of UKCEH ecotoxicologist Dr Elma Lahive, the research brings together specialists in hydrology, geochemistry, ecology, and environmental modelling. "There is growing and widespread concern about PFAS," Dr Lahive explains. "But at present, very little is known about the majority of compounds. Our project will provide the evidence needed to inform better regulation and mitigation strategies, enabling us to protect both nature and human health".
Developing P‑FASE: The Model that Could Redefine PFAS Science
One of the programme's most innovative outcomes will be a new modelling tool known as P‑FASE(PFAS Fate and Speciation in the Environment). The model integrates physical, chemical, and biological data to simulate how PFAS compounds behave across environmental systems -- from soil sorption and water transport to air dispersion and bioaccumulation. Traditional environmental models tend to focus on a limited number of well-studied PFAS, but P‑FASE incorporates a vastly broader array of compounds, including emerging substitutes and complex mixtures. The aim is to identify similarities in behaviour between poorly studied PFAS and their known counterparts, thus accelerating the understanding of thousands of lesser-known chemicals.
By combining laboratory experiments, field measurements, and numerical modelling, P‑FASE will generate an integrated predictive framework to forecast PFAS distribution and persistence over time. Such a model can inform regulators, water authorities, and environmental engineers about where the greatest risks lie and which interventions are most likely to succeed.
Bridging Scientific Research and Policy
The outputs of this research feed directly into regulatory policymaking. The project's results will support the UK and devolved governments as they update environmental standards and drinking-water guidelines to align with new scientific evidence. Across the European Union, PFAS are already scheduled for comprehensive restriction under the REACH framework, and the UK plans to mirror several of these actions following post‑Brexit chemical regulation reviews.
Importantly, the research seeks not only to identify existing contamination hotspots but also to forecast emerging ones. By predicting likely PFAS accumulation areas such as near airports, military zones, firefighting training sites, or industrial effluent discharges, regulators can target remediation and monitoring resources more effectively.
Synergy with Scottish and EU Research
This UK‑wide project builds upon prior studies commissioned by Scotland's Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW)and Scottish Water, which have identified PFAS contamination in raw water catchments. Scotland introduced a drinking‑water standard in 2023, limiting the combined total of 20 individual PFAS compounds to 0.1 micrograms per litre. Those early studies pinpointed significant gaps in understanding, including atmospheric PFAS transport, sea‑spray aerosol dispersal, and chemical fingerprinting techniques for tracing contamination sources.
UKCEH's efforts now expand that work on a national scale, integrating freshwater data with terrestrial and atmospheric pathways. Such collaboration exemplifies Britain's emerging "whole‑ecosystem" approach to managing PFAS contamination.
Citizen Science: Engaging the Public through UNSaFE
A defining feature of the UKCEH PFAS programme is its commitment to public participation in environmental science. Complementing the P‑FASE model is the UNSaFE initiative (Understanding the Scale, Sources, Fate and Effects of PFAS pollution) a £2 million companion project led by Imperial College London with Brunel University, King's College London, Earthwatch, and UKCEH.
Through "water blitz" citizen-science events, volunteers throughout the UK will collect river and pond samples for PFAS testing. These participatory efforts contribute both spatial data density and community awareness, helping transform environmental monitoring from a top‑down to an inclusive national enterprise. Combining citizen-collected samples with scientific laboratory validation enhances large‑scale data accuracy while fostering public ownership of pollution challenges.
Ecological Impacts and Wildlife Studies
PFAS contamination poses specific and poorly understood threats to wildlife. Because these chemicals bioaccumulate, they can reach toxic concentrations even in remote environments far from pollution sources. PFAS have been detected in sea birds, salmon, marine mammals, and even top predators in Arctic ecosystems.
UKCEH's environmental ecologists will study bioaccumulation in indicator species such as freshwater fish, wading birds, and invertebrates. Laboratory toxicity tests will complement field assessments, quantifying exposure pathways and determining which compounds have the highest potential for biomagnification. Together, these data will provide the foundation for updated ecological risk assessments.
Atmospheric Pathways and Climate Interactions
PFAS are not confined to local environments; their volatility allows long-range transport through the atmosphere. For years, the scientific community underestimated this airborne dispersal. CREW's earlier work revealed possible links between sea-spray aerosols and PFAS transfer from marine to coastal systems. UKCEH's modelling extends this inquiry globally, examining how temperature, humidity, and oceanic air currents influence diffusion.
Understanding these mechanisms is vital because climate change may amplify PFAS movement. Increased storm frequencies, altered wind patterns, and changing rainfall intensities could redistribute chemical burdens, exposing new environments and populations to contamination.
The Human Health Dimension
Although UKCEH's core focus is ecological, its findings will inevitably inform human health policy. PFAS in drinking water, food, and air have been associated with elevated health risks, and public demand for clarity continues to rise. The upcoming model will allow public-health authorities to assess exposure pathways and integrate results with biomonitoring programmes, ensuring risk assessments are holistic and up-to-date.crew
In particular, identifying "chemical fingerprints" of contamination will enable water suppliers and policymakers to distinguish between industrial, agricultural, and domestic sources in turn streamlining remediation strategies and liability assessments.
Global and Ethical Context
The PFAS challenge is inherently global. Chemical production and trade transcend borders, and atmospheric deposition ensures that contamination respects no political boundary. UKCEH's leadership in developing internationally shareable PFAS data and models situates Britain at the forefront of responsible environmental science.
The project's ethos also reflects a broader movement toward planetary stewardship, an ethical recognition that persistent pollutants demand transdisciplinary collaboration, from industrial reformulation and corporate accountability to scientific transparency and civic engagement.
Implications for Regulation and Industry
By combining environmental monitoring and predictive modelling, UKCEH aims to provide the empirical foundation for a new generation of PFAS regulation. The research is expected to guide:
- Improved contamination thresholds in soil and water standards.
- Stricter discharge permits for industrial emitters.
- Replacement assessment for PFAS alternatives, ensuring that chemical substitutions do not perpetuate the same persistence and toxicity.
- Strategies for long-term remediation such as activated carbon filtration, advanced oxidation, and bioaccumulation-based removal.
Data emerging from both the P‑FASE and UNSaFE projects will feed into the Environment Agency's risk management framework, shaping UK policy in tandem with the devolved administrations across Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The Broader Significance: A New Frontier in Environmental Chemistry
What sets this research apart is its integration of scales ,from the molecular to the global. PFAS chemistry pushes the boundaries of existing environmental toxicology because of both the sheer diversity of compounds and the complexity of their transformations. No single discipline can capture the whole picture; thus, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology's leadership role demonstrates the power of interdisciplinary science.
Moreover, the UKCEH's approach signals a shift toward preventive environmental management rather than reactive remediation. By understanding PFAS behaviour before contamination escalates, policymakers can act swiftly to restrict sources and protect sensitive ecosystems.
A Step Towards Public Accountability
Public trust in environmental governance relies on visibility and openness. The UKCEH's engagement through citizen science, open‑access data, and collaboration with non‑governmental organizations strengthens accountability and transparency. As PFAS regulation moves from scientific debate to legislative action, community engagement ensures that decisions reflect both empirical evidence and societal values.
Conclusion
The new PFAS research initiative led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology represents a pivotal moment in the global effort to understand and manage "forever chemicals." Through its holistic integration of laboratory science, field ecology, computational modelling, and citizen participation, the programme will deliver an unprecedented depth of knowledge about how PFAS behave, move, and accumulate within the British environment. By developing the groundbreaking P‑FASE model, the project will provide tools capable of predicting contamination pathways and ecological outcomes, filling a decades-long gap in environmental science. Its collaboration with universities, the British Geological Survey, and the Environment Agency ensures that the work is not only scientifically rigorous but also policy relevant.
Ultimately, this initiative exemplifies how research institutions can bridge the divide between science, society, and policy. PFAS contamination will not disappear overnight, but through projects of this calibre, the groundwork is being laid for a future where persistent pollutants are met with persistent solutions and solutions rooted in evidence, transparency, and collective responsibility. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology's leadership reaffirms that the challenge of "forever chemicals" can be confronted by combining innovation, cooperation, and an unyielding commitment to a cleaner, safer world.