Blood tests have found high levels of cancer-causing “forever chemicals” in residents living near a large Lancashire chemical factory.
Almost 70 per cent of the 49 Thornton-Cleveleys residents tested had increased levels of a chemical known as perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, a substance banned as it has been classed as a carcinogen. Those affected live near the Hillhouse manufacturing site, operated by AGC Chemicals Europe and formerly by ICI, which used PFOA between the 1950s and 2012.
