Fair Isle has the highest levels of toxic Pfas in drinking water in Scotland

Sea foam around Fair Isle’s southern coast. Photo credit: Daniel Shailer

The Guardian reported on 02 June 2026 that in 2024, utility data in Fair Isle revealed that the island has “higher levels of forever chemicals than any other public drinking water in Scotland, despite there being no obvious industrial sources on the island.” The article suggests the pollutants travel thousands of miles in sea-spray and sea-foam to accumulate on Fair Isle.

Locals are quoted as suggesting “SEPA are a disappointment” for not releasing analysis from a programme of testing in 2025, with their most recent Pfas data being published in 2018.

Another local suggests Scottish Water should do more to address PFAs pollution at the island’s treatment facility, and that blood testing should be available to local people. “Water is one thing you can’t live without […] Nobody wants to highlight it because of the negative effect it could have on tourism. But if we’ve got these high levels, do a trial on it.”

Scottish Water provided a statement to the Guardian that the high readings are due to fire-fighting foam used on the island, for instance during the famous 2019 bird observatory incident. However, the National Trust for Scotland responded that either they use seawater for firefighting, or PFAs-free foam.