Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his international counterparts on classifying per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances as a group of chemicals in the Stockholm Convention.

There is a growing global awareness of the adverse effects on human health and the environment of polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS); the widespread occurrence of it in products and the environment make it a complex challenge.

The UK is a signatory to the Stockholm Convention which bans and/or restricts the production, use and emissions of substances listed as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). We will continue to engage with the Stockholm process on the management PFAS as a group of chemicals.

The UK participated in recent discussions on PFAS at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where we offered our scientific expertise to support work on new PFAS assessments and life cycle approaches. We will continue to work with partners around the world to develop our approach domestically and internationally.