People living near a chemical work site in Lancashire have been told to wash and peel vegetables from their gardens before eating them, and an investigation has been launched into whether soil in the area may be contaminated with banned toxic chemicals.
PFOA is one of about 15,000 chemicals in the PFAS family that do not break down in the environment and were classified by the World Health Organization last year as a possible human carcinogen, are toxic to reproduction and have been linked to a range of health problems, including thyroid disease and high cholesterol.
Last year, the Guardian and Watershed Investigations revealed that the AGC Chemicals factory in Thornton Cleveleys, near Blackpool, had discharged hundreds of PFAS, including very high levels of the banned substance PFOA, into the River Wyre, which flows into Morecambe Bay.
The Environment Agency, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Wyre Council have launched an investigation into the site.
Watershed Investigations and the Guardian have now obtained letters between AGC Chemicals and the Environment Agency in which the chemical company estimates that around 115 tonnes of PFOA may have been released into the air, soil, water and landfill between 1950 and 2012, including when chemical company ICI operated at the site.
“The total amount of PFOA released into air, soil, water and products since initial production at the Hill House facility is approximately 178 tonnes,” the document states. AGC says 49.1 tonnes were released into the air, 54.3 tonnes into water, 6.2 tonnes into landfills, 5.1 tonnes were incinerated and 63.3 tonnes were sent to customers.
The investigation also found that since 2014, AGC has been sending its waste to an off-site landfill that accepts hazardous materials, but prior to that it had been using the Jameson Landfill, which is adjacent to a chemical plant and has been subject to odor complaints from local residents.
Wyre Council told residents the investigation was about the historical use of PFOA, known as a “forever chemical” because it takes thousands of years to break down in the environment, meaning any contamination that may have occurred in the 1950s could still be present today.
The investigation will involve “taking small samples of soil from several publicly owned locations near the site to determine whether PFOA is present, and if so, how much of it is present,” and “samples will also be taken from further away for comparison purposes,” Wyre Council said.
In the letter, the city council urged residents to “take sensible steps to reduce contact with soil” and to “wash and peel soil-grown produce to remove dirt and dust.”
Wyre councillor Claire Rimmer said the initial series of tests “near the site” was a trial and could be extended depending on the results.
The instructions are reminiscent of the PFAS contamination incident in Zwijndrecht, Belgium, where residents living near a 3M plant were advised in 2022 to stop eating eggs and vegetables grown in their own chickens or gardens.
“Personally I’m shocked that action wasn’t taken sooner,” said Professor Ian Cousins, a PFAS expert at Stockholm University. Based on past emissions, “we would expect to see elevated levels of PFOA in the soil within a few kilometres of the plant, so we need to be cautious about consuming locally grown produce,” he said.
Cousins said the figure seemed reasonable, based on emissions from other fluoropolymer manufacturing plants, but expressed surprise at “how much goes into the atmosphere…we typically assume 15 percent goes into the air and 85 percent goes into land or water.”
He said: “We know that AGC’s factory was emitting PFOA into the air because at the time AGC was using it, Lancaster University measured high levels of PFOA in an air monitoring facility near Lancaster, and we (Stockholm University) recently measured a substitute (PFAS), called EEA, in the air at the same air monitoring facility.”
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A former AGC employee told Watershed that while the company had improved its processes in recent years, “during heavy rains, our settling tanks and drainage pits would overflow and everything would go into the river… We had to use anti-foam agents to stop the river foaming.”
AGC told Watershed that recent detection of PFOA in wastewater discharged from its sites was linked to past contamination and that it has not used PFOA since 2012.
AGC Chemicals Europe said in a statement: “We do not manufacture or sell PFOA. We voluntarily phased out the use of PFOA as a polymerisation aid in our manufacturing processes in 2012. Any release of the substance was within the scope of the authorisation held by AGCCE at the time and in accordance with UK law at the time.”
The company said: “While investigations by the Environment Agency and local authorities are yet to be completed, at AGC we regularly monitor our emissions to ensure our activities do not pose any risks to the environment or human health. All our significant chemical processes and products are already rigorously monitored and controlled and currently comply with current UK and EU environmental laws and regulations.”
Dr Dave Megson, a forensic environmental scientist at Manchester Metropolitan University, welcomed the study but said: “It seems too late. 115 tonnes of PFOA being discharged into the environment is not a small amount. PFOA is highly persistent so human exposure is likely and this needs to be proven.”
Megson is concerned that the scope of the investigation is limited to just one type of PFAS: “It’s important to recognize that PFOA is not the only PFAS released from this site. There may have been a mixture of dozens or even hundreds of different PFAS released over the past several decades, and we feel it is shortsighted to focus on the risks from just one PFAS.”
“EEA-NH4 (another PFAS called) can be legally emitted at nearly a tonne per year. Are we going to do similar studies in the next 20 years to understand the potential damage from this chemical? It’s also extraordinary that there are no human biomonitoring studies being done to understand whether people nearby have been exposed.”
Dr John Astbury, public health consultant for the UKHSA North West, said: “At present it is unknown whether there is a public health risk in the area surrounding this site. UKHSA will consider any potential risks and provide an assessment of any potential exposure as investigations continue and more information becomes available. We will continue to provide advice to Wyre Council and the Environment Agency and support their response. As more data is collected from this site, the relevant agencies will work together to produce further guidance as necessary.”
