PFAS

Baroness Boycott Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

Clearly, we want to move forward as quickly as we can. The noble Baroness and others will be aware that we are working with the EU at the moment. There are negotiations. We know that the EU is looking at its own approach and, clearly, we need to take that into consideration and to work alongside it. It is important to remind noble Lords that PFAS is a large and complex group of over 15,000 chemicals. There are significant differences in chemical structure and toxicity, so it is important that we work alongside the EU to tackle this effectively and efficiently for the long term.

[Baroness Boycott (CB)]

My Lords, on the whole, on all these bans, we are way behind the EU. I have raised in this House the issue of school uniforms and polyesters being next to the skin, the largest organ in the body. I now ask the Minister to turn her attention to babies’ mattresses. Babies spend 12 to 16 hours a day on a mattress. The PVC covers leach phthalates into the atmosphere and there are fire retardants in the foam, as in most mattresses. These produce effects in babies which include cancers in later life, and there is now a definite understanding that they are hormone disruptors which are leading to lower sperm counts in males all over the world. It is important that we take a precautionary principle here and at least follow the EU all the way.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As I said, we will be taking a precautionary principle approach. The noble Baroness talked about school uniforms; it is important that we make sure that children are protected as much as possible. We recognise the concerns in this area. Her point about mattresses is also important. The textiles industry is already moving away from PFAS voluntarily, but we clearly need to do more. I assure noble Lords that the PFAS plan is the starting point and the platform for moving forward in this area. This is not the limit of our ambition.