Kidney cancer rates near Pfas factory in Lancashire a ‘major source of concern’

Residents in Thornton-Cleveleys have been advised not to eat fruit, vegetables or eggs produced within 1km of the factory. Photograph: Protoggy.com/Alamy

Questions have been raised about the conclusions drawn by a government-funded study into kidney cancer rates near a factory linked to forever chemicals near Blackpool.

Pfoa, a known carcinogenic forever chemical that was banned globally in 2020, was emitted from the AGC Chemicals Europe plant in Thornton-Cleveleys, near Blackpool, between the 1950s and 2012. An estimated 49 tonnes of Pfoa were emitted during that period. The factory, which AGC Chemicals Europe bought in 1999, stopped using Pfoa in 2012.