Blood testing of residents living near a chemical factory in Thornton Cleveleys has found elevated levels of the potentially harmful PFAS chemical PFOA, with almost 70% of those tested falling into a high-risk category.
Tests were carried out on 49 residents living close to the AGC Chemicals site, where PFOA was historically used until 2012. The site was previously operated by ICI until 1992, with an estimated 178 tonnes of PFOA released from the facility since the 1950s.
Results, which were given to participants yesterday (23th September), showed that 69.4% had PFOA concentrations above 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml), while the average reading was 26 ng/ml. None of those tested had levels below 2 ng/ml, classified as the low-risk category under guidance from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).
PFOA is a member of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) group and is classified as a carcinogen. Exposure has been associated with health effects including high cholesterol and some cancers.
The testing was arranged as part of an investigation by law firm Leigh Day, working with experts led by Dr Dave Megson of Manchester Metropolitan University. Participants were selected according to factors including their proximity to the factory, length of residence and consumption of locally grown food.
Those living within one kilometre of the site had the highest average PFAS levels. Among participants who regularly ate home-grown fruit and vegetables, 75% recorded results in the high-risk category. Every participant who reported frequently eating eggs produced on their property had a high-risk result.
Investigations by Wyre Council and the Environment Agency have also found elevated PFOA levels in soil samples from residents’ properties and nearby allotments. The council has advised residents not to eat fruit, vegetables or eggs produced in the affected area, while two allotments have been closed.
Elevated concentrations were found across all age groups and distance bands, with some high readings recorded more than two kilometres from the site. Several households also had elevated levels among multiple family members.
Leigh Day partner Sarah Moore, who leads the firm’s investigations, said: ‘The results of our testing project in Thornton Cleveleys are hugely concerning. They are a reminder that PFAS contamination has a human impact, not just an environmental one. The available evidence suggests that PFAS exposure can lead to serious health impacts, including cancers, when it reaches elevated levels. Those levels have already been exceeded in Thornton Cleveleys and it is now the community that are paying the price of that exposure in terms of potential health effects, restrictions on what they can grow and eat locally, and the value of their properties.
‘The Government has promised increased engagement and regulation of PFAS contamination, but as yet nothing has been done. The situation in Thornton Cleveleys is a reminder that action should be taken now.’
Sian Sutherland, Co-Founder of A Plastic Planet, said: ‘This is not an isolated incident. PFAS and a multitude of other toxic endocrine disrupting chemicals are used across everyday products, yet industry is ambivalent about what that exposure is doing to our health. We assume what we are sold is safe, that is far from the truth.
‘The particular horror of forever chemicals is they do not simply disappear. They persist in our environment and build up in our bodies, with exposure even passing from mother to child during pregnancy and through breast milk. No parent should be left wondering what they may unknowingly have passed on.
‘Against that backdrop, the Government’s PFAS Plan falls far short of the action this moment demands. Industry cannot be allowed to keep looking the other way, government cannot only test, monitor and gather more evidence. We already know enough to act. If we are to stem this public health crisis, we need bans and accountability for those companies who continue to pollute. Anything less will result in failure.’
Photo: Jan Wright