Alarming levels of toxic forever chemicals have been discovered in the blood of residents and former workers in Bentham, North Yorkshire, the site of the UK's highest recorded groundwater contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Blood testing conducted for an ITV documentary found that nearly a quarter of 39 individuals tested had PFAS levels exceeding 20 ng/ml, placing them in the highest risk category for adverse health effects, according to US guidelines.
The highest recorded level was 405 ng/ml in a former Angus Fire employee, more than 200 times the US risk threshold of 2 ng/ml. Among those affected is 34-year-old Stephen Illston, who has a PFAS level of 55 ng/ml and has experienced infertility. He said the finding provided “an answer that I’ve been searching for”, linking his reproductive problems to the chemicals.
Dr David Megson, a PFAS expert at Manchester Metropolitan University, said he was “absolutely shocked” by the results, noting that two-thirds of those tested were in the top 5% of US background levels. Dr Shubhi Sharma of Chem Trust described the findings as “alarming” given links to cancers and other illnesses.
Angus Fire, which produced PFAS-containing firefighting foam at its Bentham factory from 1976 to 2024, said there was “no accepted way of interpreting blood tests for PFAS internationally” and that the sample size was “extremely small”. However, epidemiologist Dr Tony Fletcher of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine highlighted that even non-workers had levels well above 20 ng/ml, indicating widespread exposure.
