Fresh from saving the world from galactic threats, Avengers actor and activist Mark Ruffalo has joined Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) directors and scientists in urging the UK government to restrict all per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), reports The Metro.
The Hulk star was among 28 signatories to a letter sent to UK secretaries of state – George Eustice at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Alok Sharma at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis), and Matt Hancock at the Department for Health and Social Care.
This follows Scottish NGO Fidra’s announcement last week that it found significant levels of PFASs in 90 per cent of food packaging samples, such as biscuit and bakery bags, bought from major UK supermarkets, coffee chains and takeaway restaurants.
Mark Ruffalo’s latest film Dark Waters, which claims to be based on a true story about a class action lawsuit against PFAS pollution in the US, is expected to raise public awareness of the chemicals and give ammunition to NGOs to pressure governments for a ban. The film was released in the UK on 28 February.
The letter sent on 24 February states that that current UK legislation does not sufficiently cover many of the dangerous chemicals that people are exposed to regularly. “Specifically, we call on the government to introduce comprehensive legislation restricting the use of all PFAS in paper and board food packaging,” it says.
Robert Bilott, the lawyer whose 20-year fight against hazardous dumping of the chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is dramatised in Dark Waters and detailed in his book Exposure, is one of the signatories.
Many PFASs are suspected carcinogens and endocrine disruptors and can affect the immune system. The NGO’s petition asking qsupermarkets to remove PFAS from food packaging has now collected over 1,000 signatures.
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