MINISTERS ignored scientific advice on PFAS, delayed action and put budgets ahead of Islanders’ health, a campaign group has claimed in a fierce critique of the government’s handling of an independent report into the so-called ‘forever chemicals’.
Water Awareness Jersey said the Government’s response to the PFAS Scientific Advisory Panel’s third report amounted to “ignorance by design”.
The group criticised Health Minister Tom Binet and medical officer of health Peter Bradley for failing to issue warnings to vulnerable Islanders and for limiting blood testing and treatment options to those living in what it described as a “politically defined” area.
“They also delayed urgent action while seeking confirmation that there would be extra funding to protect departmental budgets – putting financial self-interest ahead of Islanders’ health,” a statement read.
PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of over 14,000 man-made chemicals commonly found in items such as frying pans, outdoor clothing and food packaging.
A type of PFAS was an ingredient in firefighting foam sprayed at the Airport for many years until the early 1990s, going on to contaminate streams, groundwater and boreholes.
The PFAS Panel’s third report was published in April, but the Government did not issue its formal response until September.
That report recommended anonymous Island-wide blood sampling to establish background levels of PFAS, and advised that a cholesterol-lowering drug, colesevelam, should be offered to eligible Islanders to help reduce PFAS in the blood.
It also called for blood testing to be extended to firefighters, workers who handled PFAS foams, and those who qualified for the 2022 testing programme but did not take part.
The government accepted most of the panel’s recommendations, including giving Colesevelam to Islanders who had their blood tested in 2022, as well as those exposed through borehole water or their employment, but it rejected the call for Islandwide blood testing.
Professor Bradley said there were “significant concerns” about testing anonymously without explicit consent and that many Islanders would want to know their results.
He added that the Hospital did not have the capacity to run a full research study, including blood testing.
Responding, Water Awareness Jersey chair Paul Le Claire said: “To call this response swift is an insult. It was slow, it was cynical, and it was ignorant. They ignored us, and they ignored the Panels’ advice.”
Campainger Debbie Thorne added: “Islanders were deliberately left in the dark, while Ministers protected budgets instead of mothers and their babies and all the vulnerable people.”
The report and the minister’s response will now be presented together at a public meeting on 10 September.
