Council warns about food grown near chemical site

A council leader has urged people to use "common sense" when deciding whether to eat food grown near a former chemical plant.

Wyre Council leader Michael Vincent said samples of produce grown at allotments next to the former AGC Chemicals and ICI Hillhouse site in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, had eight times the safe level of a carcinogen.

Vincent told a full council meeting that the authority would be contacting residents and allotment holders living within 1km (0.6 miles) of the site to urge caution.

He said he was aware of a similar situation in the Netherlands in which residents had been advised not to eat local produce and added: "My view is that this is the correct approach."

Vincent said: "It's probably best not to eat fruit and vegetables grown in the ground there."

He also acknowledged advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) - namely that any such fruit and vegetables should be washed and peeled before being eaten.

"We are suggesting people think for themselves and make a common sense decision," Vincent added.

The BBC has contacted the FSA for a response.

In September, Wyre Council launched an investigation into possible contamination of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) on the former chemical site in Thornton-Cleveleys in September.

A number of residents have expressed concern.

Vincent said he had researched a similar investigation in Dordrecht, where residents had been advised by authorities not to eat any produce grown in the ground within 1km of a contaminated site.

He said the council did not know if eating produce with high PFOA levels could be harmful.

As such, he said the council wanted residents to have the facts to hand to make their own decision.

"I can't advise people not to do it, but to consider whether it's right to do it," said Vincent.

"We are not a health or food standards agency," he said, "But we do have a responsibility to our residents."

Wyre Council said ICI, and subsequent site owner AGC Chemicals, were permitted to use PFOA from the 1950s until 2012.

The authority said that while elevated concentrations of the potentially hazardous substance were not necessarily a cause for concern, the results highlighted the need for more detailed testing.

This will enable a thorough scientific risk assessment to be carried out, it said.

In July the council wrote to residents, advising them to "continue to enjoy using your garden space as you normally would" but to "wash hands thoroughly after working or playing in the garden or allotment and "wash and peel any produce grown in the soil in order to remove any soil or dust".

Vincent said the authority would write to residents again to urge them "to consider not eating them until such time as more is known".

Wyre Council said more detailed tests would be carried out on 22 areas of land by the Environment Agency in coming weeks.

Local residents have also been invited to drop-in sessions.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are nicknamed "forever chemicals" because they are difficult to break down in the environment.

They were used in the production of items such as non-stick pans and waterproof clothing.

Many PFAS, including PFOA, have prompted health and environmental concerns and have been linked to cancer and fertility issues.

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