How global seafood trade is moving ‘forever chemicals’ from contaminated waters to dinner plates

By Stuti Mishra | The Independent | December 19, 2025

Read the full article by Stuti Mishra (The Independent)

"The global seafood trade is spreading exposure to “forever chemicals” far beyond where the pollution occurs, with fish carrying synthetic substances from contaminated waters to consumers around the world, a new study has found.

The study looked at levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in more than 200 marine fish species that make up almost all global commercial fish production and found that international trade shifted the exposure of these chemicals from highly contaminated regions to countries where local fish contained lower levels of pollution.

Europe, in particular, emerged as a major hub in these exposure flows, despite not having the most contaminated fish stocks."

This content provided by the PFAS Project.