英国索顿克利夫利斯社区居民的血液检测结果显示，约70%的受测者体内永久性化学物质（PFAS）浓度超过美国安全标准20纳摩尔/毫升1。这次由Leigh Day律师事务所与曼彻斯特城市大学法医环保科学家Dave Megson博士合作开展的检测共涉及49名居民，其中部分人员的污染程度令人担忧1。受测者中浓度最高者达436纳摩尔/毫升，而一名儿童的血液中PFAS浓度为111纳摩尔/毫升，远超安全水平1。
污染源指向邻近的AGC化学欧洲工厂，该厂直到2012年才停止大规模排放PFOA（一种致癌物质）1。PFOA已于2020年被全球禁用1。社区暴露风险甚至扩展到食物链：当地居民Sam Hammond饲养的鸭蛋中PFAS含量高到若每周食用一枚就会超过欧洲安全水平10倍1。
英国政府2024年进行的肾癌研究虽发现该地区两个地点的肾癌率高于预期，但官方结论认为这可能源于随机变异，未保证进一步调查1。面对这一公共健康危机，英国目前既没有关于血液中PFAS安全浓度的官方指导，也没有针对高浓度PFAS暴露的治疗方案1。
Residents of Thornton-Cleveleys in northwest England discovered widespread contamination with PFAS—a class of persistent industrial chemicals—in their bodies following a blood screening initiative. Approximately 70% of 49 tested residents showed PFAS concentrations exceeding the U.S. safety standard of 20 nanograms per milliliter 1. The findings, released through collaboration between Leigh Day law firm and forensic environmental scientist Dave Megson of Manchester Metropolitan University, point to decades of pollution from the nearby AGC Chemicals Europe factory 1.
The contamination levels recorded were striking. One resident's blood contained 436 nanograms per milliliter of PFAS, while a child tested showed a concentration of 111 nanograms per milliliter 1. Exposure extended beyond direct inhalation; eggs from ducks raised by one community member, Sam Hammond, contained such high PFAS levels that consuming just one egg weekly would exceed European safety thresholds by a factor of ten 1. The AGC factory discharged significant quantities of PFOA—a known carcinogen—until 2012 1; PFOA was globally banned in 2020 1.
The situation has left residents facing uncertainty and few options. The United Kingdom has not established official guidance on safe blood PFAS levels, nor does it offer treatment for elevated exposures 1. A 2024 kidney cancer study identified elevated cancer rates in two areas, but authorities attributed the finding to random variation and did not commit to further investigation 1.
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