Residents living near the AGC Chemicals plant in Lancashire have been advised not to eat domestically farmed eggs or egg-laying poultry, due to concerns about PFAS contamination.

The advice has been issued in the midst of an ongoing contaminated land investigation conducted by Wyre Council and the Environment Agency. Elevated levels of PFAS were found in eggs taken from a small sample of poultry keepers living within 1km of the plant.

ENDS Report reported that one local resident was told that eating just one egg from her ducks could match or exceed the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) level for PFAS set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). A TWI is an estimate of the amount of a substance that a person can ingest weekly over their lifetime, without it posing a risk to their health.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) are a group of over 10,000 chemicals, also known as the ‘forever chemicals’ as they are highly persistent and take generations to break down in the environment. Exposure to some PFAS has been linked with adverse health impacts, including certain cancers, reduced fertility, and the disruption of the immune system.

The AGC chemicals plant, located in Thornton-Cleveleys, is estimated to have released 115 tonnes of the now-banned chemical, PFOA, into air, soils, water and landfills, between 1950 and 2012. PFOA is a type of PFAS, and was classified as a carcinogen in 2023 by the World Health Organisation. It has been banned in the EU since 2020. Nearby residents have previously been warned against eating locally grown fruit and vegetables due to contamination concerns.

This week, the UK government released its PFAS action plan, which sets out how it intends to address PFAS. However, in CHEM Trust’s view, the plan does not address the PFAS pollution crisis and leaves people, wildlife, and the environment in the UK at risk of continued exposure to PFAS.

In comparison, the EU is bringing forward a strong approach to regulate all 10,000 PFAS at source, while France and Denmark have already introduced national bans on PFAS in certain products. CHEM Trust is calling on the UK government to restrict PFAS as a group, in line with the upcoming EU universal PFAS restriction.

Read more about the EU’s restriction here and the availability of PFAS alternatives.

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