‘Forever chemicals' in school uniforms could be banned under proposed law

The Guardian

17 hours ago

The volume of microplastics and potentially harmful 'forever chemicals' in school uniforms should be restricted, experts have said, as they urge peers to back two amendments to a crucial bill.
The children's wellbeing and schools bill, which applies mainly to England and Wales and is at committee stage in the House of Lords, is poised to introduce new regulation on the cost of school uniform items, as well as the number of branded uniform items schools can require pupils to wear.
But emerging evidence of the environmental and human health risks of synthetic fibres and Pfas 'forever chemicals', which are used as stain and water resistance agents, has led to concerns about the fabrics and chemicals used in their manufacture. Pfas, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is an umbrella term for a family of thousands of chemicals that degrade extremely slowly. Some have been linked to health problems including high cholesterol, fertility issues, immune system disorders, kidney disease, birth defects, some cancers and a range of other serious health problems.
'What we're failing to grasp is the cocktail effect, which is the fact that all of us, but particularly our children, are being exposed to microplastics and nanoplastics,' said Natalie Bennett, the Green party peer, who has backed both amendments.
'We're being exposed to Pfas, we're being exposed to pesticides. And the level of all of these things is mounting up all of the time.'
Lady Bennett added: 'The phrase 'cocktail effect' comes from river campaigners who started to focus on the environmental impact of this. But actually [this is] what's happening to human bodies.'
Amendment 202A to the children's bill calls for an almost immediate ban on the use of Pfas in school uniforms, and a requirement for manufacturers to provide a digital product passport listing the chemicals.
Amendment 202B calls for action to be taken within 12 months on uniforms that could 'endanger the health or safety of persons [or] cause unreasonable public health or environmental health risk', with a specific emphasis on artificial fibres.
In 2021, synthetic fibres made up 64% of the total global fibre production for the apparel industry, but clear data on the proportion of school uniforms made of polyester, nylon or other synthetic materials is not available.
Anecdotal evidence suggests most uniforms are made from synthetic materials, however, with alternatives made from natural fibres marketed as exceptions.
There has been longstanding concern about the impact of synthetic fibres on the environment, with those derived from petrochemicals persisting for thousands of years and shedding billions of plastic microfibres into ecosystems.
But more recent research has shown these microfibres, defined as synthetic fibres of less than 5mm in length, are also infiltrating human bodies, with studies having identified them in human blood, semen, lungs, breast milk, bone marrow, placenta, testicles and brains.
Scientists have found that synthetic fibres do not have to be discarded, or even subjected to the stress of a washing machine cycle, to begin shedding microfibres, with clothing shedding up to 400 fibres per gram of fabric during just 20 minutes of normal wear.
'It's obviously breathed in,' Bennett said. 'So you know, you run for the bus in your blazer, you're probably taking in great gulps of plastics, straight into your lungs and potentially into your bloodstream. And also of course, you know, you touch it and then you touch your mouth and you can also orally ingest it.'
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The health impacts of plastic microfibres remain uncertain, but initial research has suggested they could increase the risk of various conditions such as oxidative stress or cardiovascular disease.
Bennett added: 'My broader frame of this is planetary boundaries … One of them is so-called novel entities, which for my shorthand is pesticides, pharmaceuticals and plastics. And we have exceeded the planetary boundary for novel entities.
'And so that's where it's sort of the whole cocktail effect argument comes in, you know, we are poisoning this planet, we are on a poisoned planet, and we're poisoning our own bodies.'
Dr David Santillo, senior scientist at Greenpeace Research Laboratories, said: 'Most parents are probably not aware that the uniforms their children are required to wear may be treated with a mix of forever chemicals, something that is almost impossible to tell from the label. Although some Pfas are already banned in textiles, there are many more still in widespread use. Only a ban on the whole group will be effective in reducing children's exposure to these chemicals while they are at school.
'Action on school uniforms should go hand in hand with a wider ban on the use of any Pfas in any children's textiles, so that it is not a lottery of exposure based on what your child is wearing. Forever chemicals have no place in everyday consumer clothing and should be phased out in all but essential uses in specialised workwear.'
Ruth Chambers, a senior fellow at the Green Alliance, said: 'Toxic chemicals in school uniforms are yet another example of why we need stronger chemicals laws. Before Brexit, the UK was parts of the world's gold standard system for regulating chemicals, which restricted or banned hundreds of substances linked to health concerns like cancer, but our protections have significantly weakened since then.
'The government should commit to catch up with EU standards in its legally binding environmental improvement plan, and it should work towards fully banning the use of these harmful chemicals to protect people and nature.'