Michael Phillips spent his childhood in 1980s Wales playing with friends beside a lagoon, shooting air guns at rusty barrels that released clouds of coloured powder—unaware they may have contained toxic industrial chemicals.
Decades later, Phillips and several of his childhood friends developed rare cancers. They believe their illnesses could be linked to exposure to chemical contamination at the site.
Researcher and whistleblower Douglas Gowan raised concerns about 14 suspected contaminated sites, including 12 in Wales, but died before his warnings received widespread attention.
“What he told me made my blood run cold,” said Hollywood actor Michael Sheen, who spoke with Gowan months before his death. Sheen has since continued the investigation in a new BBC iPlayer documentary about toxic waste and chemical pollution in Wales.
Gowan, a former farming consultant, alleged that chemical company Monsanto had dumped “huge amounts of industrial chemicals all around Wales”.
Among the substances he identified were polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which he described as “some of the worst contaminants known to man”. PCBs were widely used during the 20th century in products and industrial equipment, including electrical appliances and some consumer goods.
“This stuff builds up in the environment, builds up in animals and fish, and it builds up in us,” Gowan said.
Eastman Chemical Company, which is responsible for Monsanto’s legacy production in the UK, did not respond to requests for comment from Sheen’s team or the BBC.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk