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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Pippa Neill Environment reporter

‘Are these chemicals in my blood?’ How one community learned the truth about Pfas pollution

Hammond holds a small duckling while standing in her garden
Sam Hammond with her rare ducks in her garden at home in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Last February, I got a call from a woman called Sam Hammond. We had been speaking on and off for a while over her growing concern that her garden could be affected by pollution from a nearby chemical plant.

That morning, Sam had been hand-delivered a letter from her council informing her that her pet ducks’ eggs, reared in her garden, were contaminated with Pfas chemicals.

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