Take part in study on PFAS 'forever chemicals' in eggs

[Leana Hosea]

Hello I'm an environmental journalist with (https://watershedinvestigations.com/) and I am working with Dr Dave Megson of Manchester Metropolitan University (https://www.mmu.ac.uk/staff/profile/dr-david-megson)) to test backyard eggs for PFAS 'forever chemicals'.

 

There have been numerous studies in the EU which show many backyard eggs have high levels of the probable carcinogen PFOS (a common PFAS chemical), which have led some authorities to recommend limiting the weekly intake of eggs.

https://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/2025-0011.pdf)

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/.../pii/S0048969725018935)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12984560/)

(https://chemtrust.org/news/pfas-organic-eggs/)

(https://chemtrust.org/news/pfas_in_german_eggs/))

 

But there have been no equivalent studies in the UK. As this is in the public interest, I was hoping some of you might be interested in taking part in this small egg study by donating an egg for testing please? The idea is that we can see if there might be an issue with home reared eggs in the UK and if so spark a larger study. Thank you and I hope to hear from you.

Leana.Hosea@watershedinvestigations.com

[Beantree]

I think you will find the issue far more complex than a random sample of eggs will show. Egg quality is down to both breed and feed. A free ranging chicken with access to GRASS, not just a bare earth specified square metre area, together with a variety of insects, wild flowers and good quality feed will produce far better eggs. I've been eating 3 eggs a day for over 15 years. The eggs bought in the shops, particularly the 'organic' are horrible, which is why we continue to keep chickens. Without those I wouldn't eat eggs at all.

Feeds for layers usually contain chemical colourants to make the yolks yellow. This is because the hens don't have access to grass and other greenery which are the source of natural yolk colourant. Are these chemical colourants the source of the problem?

When we sold our eggs we repeatedly had the same comment "they look and taste like they did when I was a child." Our hens have about 50m2 each as they would have done years ago wandering around the farmyard. They won't wander that far away from their roost, so providing near infinite area achieves nothing.