Regulators overlooking toxic PFAS found around Lancashire chemicals plant

By Rachel Salvidge | The Guardian | October 19, 2025

Read the full article by Rachel Salvidge (The Guardian)

"Regulators measuring “forever chemicals” near a Lancashire chemicals plant are not testing for a substance made by the company itself, despite evidence it could be reprotoxic and is being emitted in large volumes.

Reprotoxic means a substance can be damaging to a person’s sexual function, fertility, or their child’s development and, now,

independent sampling has found the substance in soils around the factory.

Pfas, or forever chemicals, are a large group of manmade substances used in a wide range of consumer products, firefighting foams and industrial processes. They do not break down easily and therefore build up in the environment, water, wildlife and human bodies. Scientists have linked some Pfas (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) to cancers, hormone disruption, immune system effects and other health risks."