Ian Wright

$2 billion is an enormous sum of money.

I don't think it's going to get close to cleaning up this problem, no.

In the context of a very complicated endeavour, we need to place a premium on simplicity.

PFAS is an artificial man-made substance.

It's...

Basically, post-World War II, starting in the 1930s, 1940s, it's become a really useful building block for so many products in society, in our economy.

It's a string of carbon chain.

bonded to fluorine.

And this is an incredible bond that is almost unbreakable and makes it really useful for building things like paints and cosmetics.

It resists heat, resists water.

So useful in so many different things, but it also resists breaking down.

And also it bioaccumulates in the environment, in animals, in plants, and in us.

So has all kinds of uses in a million different products.

but it has serious implications for human health and it is causing problems around the globe.

It's used as a treatment for clothes and furniture and car upholstery as moisture resistance.

It's often sold in outdoor stores or used to be sold as something you could spray on your clothes to resist moisture, waterproofing essentially.

So that's one big use.

And the other one is non-stick cookware.

Absolutely brilliant material, resists heat, resists oil.

but again, can break down and actually enter our food chain as well.