Rivers, lakes, and tap water in areas of Bangladesh that host garment factories are swarming with dangerous levels of toxic “forever chemicals,” according to new research.
Forever chemicals, referring to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), linked to serious health issues, were found in 27 water samples collected near textile factories in the capital, reports The Guardian on 29 May, citing the study first of its kind conducted in Bangladesh.
The samples, taken in 2019 and 2022, revealed PFAS levels far above regulatory limits set by the EU and the US, with several samples containing globally banned chemicals, suggests the study conducted by the Environment and Social Development Organization (Esdo) and Ipen, a network of NGOs.
PFAS are a family of approximately 10,000 chemicals linked to a wide range of serious illnesses, including certain cancers. These chemicals have been used in manufacturing and consumer products since the 1950s. They are called "forever chemicals" because they can take hundreds or even thousands of years to degrade. If PFAS leak into water, they can remain there for centuries. The textile industry accounts for 50% of the global use of PFAS.
“Bangladesh is an international textiles manufacturing hub, and the prevalence of toxic chemical emissions from this sector puts our residents at higher risk,” said Siddika Sultana, the executive director of Esdo in Bangladesh. “The fashion export industry should not get a free pass to contaminate our rivers, lakes, and taps with PFAS.”
Certain PFAS have been banned globally under the Stockholm Convention, to which Bangladesh is a signatory, while others are under review. The global treaty aims to protect human health and the environment from the effects of persistent organic pollutants.
Of the 27 samples found with PFAS, 67% contained one or more globally banned PFAS chemicals. Samples with high levels were common in areas near textile factories, suggesting that the industry may be a significant source of water pollution. Samples taken in two waterways downstream from large factories in 2022 showed higher levels of PFAS than samples taken upstream.
The highest PFAS levels were detected in water from the Karnatali River, exceeding the proposed EU limit by more than 300 times. This sample had the highest levels of two banned PFAS, with concentrations more than 1,700 times higher than the Dutch advisory limit for perfluorooctanoic acid and over 54,000 times higher than the limit for perfluorooctane sulfonate.
Bangladesh has no specific regulations for PFAS, so the study compared findings with standards in the EU, the Netherlands, and the US.
Shahriar Hossain, a lead author of the study, stated, “Bangladesh is a small country with a large population. The water bodies are major sources of irrigation, agriculture, industrial development, and drinking water. We found that water is contaminated with highly toxic chemicals, and consider this a big problem that needs to be addressed. If Bangladesh is a signatory of the Stockholm Convention, it has an obligation to regulate PFAS.”
