‘I just want to know if it has caused my cancer’: life in the shadow of Lancashire PFAS factory

By Pippa Neill | The Guardian | July 10, 2026

Read the full article by Pippa Neill (The Guardian)

“Everything I wanted was finally coming to fruition. A house, a change of job and getting married,” says Liz Hurst, looking out to sea on a hot evening in Blackpool.

“But then all of a sudden, everything was put on hold.” Fifteen years ago, Hurst was diagnosed with kidney cancer aged 32.

“The doctors told me they didn’t know why I’d got it, they said it was very uncommon for somebody of my age and sex,” she says."