Residents of Thornton-Cleveleys are demanding answers after a government-commissioned study found higher-than-expected rates of kidney cancer near the AGC Chemicals Europe manufacturing plant. Between the 1950s and 2012 the facility emitted an estimated 49 tonnes of PFOA, a PFAS linked by international research to kidney cancer. The 2024 local council and Environment Agency investigation found widespread soil contamination, prompting advice not to eat eggs laid within 1 km of the factory and to wash and peel homegrown fruit and vegetables. The study reported higher kidney cancer rates but found no evidence of a cancer cluster or an environmental association that could link individual cases to PFOA exposure. World-leading experts called the findings a "major source of concern" and urged further work, including blood testing. Longtime residents such as Liz Hurst, who had kidney cancer aged 32 and has been cancer free since 2019, and allotment holder Alan Hodson say the factory has shadowed community life. Regulators are deciding next steps while scientists analyse the data and assess what further investigations or public-health measures to order.
