People in North Yorkshire town found to have ‘alarming’ levels of toxic Pfas chemicals in blood | Pfas

Alarming levels of forever toxic chemicals have been discovered in the blood of people living in a town previously revealed to be contaminated with the highest level of Pfas recorded in the UK.

Pfas, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and commonly known as forever chemicals due to their persistence in the environment, have been linked to a wide range of serious diseases, including some cancers. They are used in a variety of consumer products, but one of their most prolific uses is in firefighting foam.

In May 2024, Ends Report and the Guardian published an investigation revealing that groundwater in the small rural town of Bentham, North Yorkshire, was contaminated with the highest level of Pfas ever recorded in the UK. This was found on land owned by Angus Fire, a factory which between 1976 and 2024 legally produced firefighting foam containing Pfas.

Blood tests carried out as part of a new ITV documentary to be broadcast on Sunday evening, produced in conjunction with Ends Report, found residents and former workers at the factory had “alarming” levels of the chemicals in their blood.

In the UK, there are no guidelines for what constitutes a safe level of Pfas in the blood. However, in the United States, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (Nasem) has stated that if the sum of the seven Pfas chemicals in the blood is greater than 2 ng/ml, there is a risk of adverse health effects.

The highest Pfas blood level recorded at Bentham was 405 ng/ml, more than 200 times higher than the US risk level of 2 ng/ml. It was recorded in the blood of a former Angus Fire worker who asked to remain anonymous.

If blood Pfas levels are above 20 ng/ml, Nasem says there is an increased risk of adverse effects and clinicians should consider more frequent and targeted health screenings.

Almost a quarter (23%) of the 39 people who had blood tests at Bentham had levels that put them in the highest risk category. Among them was Stephen Illston, 34, who has a Pfas level of 55 ng/ml.

Illston had difficulty conceiving children. He said his infertility issues led to poor mental health and for years he questioned his “usefulness on earth.”

More and more research reveals that Pfa is associated with reproductive health problems, including reduced sperm count. Stephen said finding out he had high levels of Pfas in his blood was “an answer I was looking for”.

“It’s good to hear that it’s not me, maybe it’s Pfas that’s the cause,” he said.

Dr David Megson, an environmental scientist and Pfas expert at Manchester Metropolitan University, who carried out an analysis of the blood results to compare them to Pfas levels in the US population, said he was “absolutely shocked” when he saw Bentham’s data. He said the levels were “exceptionally high compared to a general level”. [US] base population”.

“If it was just normal, we should have half the people above [and] half of the people below average. [But] Almost everyone we tested was above average, and two-thirds of them were in the top 5%. A third of them were higher than anything we could hope to see in the reference population. So it was really shocking and quite stunning.

Dr Shubhi Sharma from environmental charity Chem Trust said: “The levels of Pfas in the blood of Bentham residents are alarming, especially as these chemicals have been linked to a variety of health problems, including some cancers. »

An Angus Fire spokesperson said there was “no accepted way to interpret blood tests for Pfas internationally and there is limited agreement on the relationship between Pfas exposure, blood levels and health effects”.

They declared that it was “unfounded to classify [the] The blood data is considered “unusually high” in the UK context. ” They added that the blood testing pool at Bentham was “extremely small” and said: “While we understand that these results may cause concern, increased levels of Pfas in the blood are neither an indicator of health nor of how the Pfas have been absorbed. »

Dr Tony Fletcher, an epidemiologist and global Pfas expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the fact there were a number of people at Bentham who “had elevated levels well above 20ng/ml” and who did not work at the factory suggested “they were exposed in the community”.

An internal Environment Agency report produced in 2024 suggests that air emissions from the plant could be a likely route for this exposure.

The report states that “aerial dispersion” resulting from foam testing at the plant could lead to exposure to Pfas for site workers and exposure to residents through “consumption of agricultural products and produce grown in private gardens.” The likelihood of this happening, he adds, is considered “probable.”

Fletcher said this could be possible because when testing Pfas firefighting foams, chemicals could “rise into the air”, which could then “rain down or settle some distance away from the plant and then go into the soil and you will either be exposed to water or food grown in the soil”.

Lindsay Young, who has a Pfas level of 30ng/ml, said test fires at the Angus Fire site were common. “The siren goes off and you know the smoke is coming in five or 10 minutes and you have to go in. It’s huge bursts of black smoke. You don’t know what’s in there, no one tells you what’s in there,” she said.

A spokesperson for Angus Fire said the risk mentioned in the Environment Agency report was “overestimated” and said that as a firefighting foam manufacturer they “responsibly carry out routine fire testing to ensure our products are fit for purpose”. The company said it stopped testing Pfas foams in Bentham in 2022 and that the former Angus Fire operations were not the only source of Pfas in the Bentham area environment.

The Environment Agency said fire testing was not regulated as part of the site’s license and regulation of these fires would be the responsibility of the local council. However, North Yorkshire Council said that due to the company’s links to firefighting, the test fires were exempt from the Clean Air Act 1993, which otherwise prohibits emissions of black smoke from commercial or commercial premises.

Fletcher is part of a scientific group advising the Jersey Government after Jersey’s private drinking water supplies were polluted by the use of firefighting foams containing Pfas at the airport.

The panel advised the Jersey Government that for women of childbearing age who have a Pfas level above 10 ng/ml, or for anyone with a Pfas level above 20 ng/ml and eligible for a cholesterol-lowering medication, clinicians should consider prescribing colesevelam, a cholesterol medication which has been shown to reduce Pfas levels in the first place, with bloodletting considered a second offering. intention.

Fletcher said people in Bentham who have high Pfas levels in their blood and want to lower them could discuss these options with a doctor.

An Angus Fire spokesperson said: “We recognize concerns about the potentially damaging environmental impacts of historic operations at our facility and regret the inconvenience and concern this has caused to Bentham.

“Angus Fire has worked diligently for several years alongside independent, industry-leading environmental consultants and the Environment Agency to establish the extent of any Pfas chemical contamination. […] Angus Fire has always followed the guidelines set out by UK regulatory and health authorities. Our own understanding of these chemicals has evolved along with that of the regulators.