Residents near former Monsanto sites in north-east Wales are campaigning for voluntary PCB blood tests, but Public Health Wales does not recommend them, saying results cannot reliably assess exposure or health effects and could cause further worry.
A BBC documentary found elevated PCB levels in soil samples from a publicly accessible area beyond the fence at Llwyneinion lagoon and at 13 other suspected dumpsites. Private testing commissioned for the programme found “very high” PCB levels in resident Michael Phillips’s blood. Phillips suspects the chemicals are linked to cancers among people he knew, but no proven link has been established.
Public Health Wales says PCBs can come from multiple sources, including food and materials in homes and buildings, so tests would not show how or where a person was exposed. It also says no treatment is available for elevated levels and that its position is not about cost. The Welsh government says it will develop a Wales-wide strategy to progressively restore post-industrial land so communities are no longer exposed to potential risks.
