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When Natalie Dugdale moved to the countryside near a lagoon in north Wales two years ago, she believed it would be a safe and idyllic place to raise her young family. The public footpaths around the area seemed perfect for walks with her baby, toddler, and dogs. However, her perception dramatically changed after watching a BBC documentary presented by Michael Sheen, which revealed the lagoon’s disturbing history as a dumping ground for cancer-causing chemicals called PCBs. Shocked by this discovery, Natalie joined a community campaign advocating for voluntary blood testing of residents to determine potential exposure to these harmful substances.
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are synthetic chemicals once widely used for their durability and flame-resistant properties, but are now recognized as dangerous “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment and the health risks they pose. The wastewater lagoon near Llwyneinion, close to Wrexham, was branded “a shame on Britain” after substantial evidence emerged about the extent of contamination by Monsanto, the US chemical company that operated factories in the area. Individuals who grew up near these sites—like Michael Phillips, who developed a rare cancer decades after playing by the lagoon—have become vocal about the urgent need to address the legacy of toxic waste dumping.
Despite community concerns, Public Health Wales has stated that blood tests to measure PCB levels are unreliable for assessing individual exposure or predicting health outcomes, warning that such testing could cause unnecessary alarm. Nevertheless, affected residents argue that voluntary testing would provide crucial peace of mind and could help document the scale of contamination. Many members of the grassroots campaign highlight the difficulty in obtaining clear information and the importance of recognizing potential exposure for the sake of public health and justice.
The campaigners, including Natalie and Michael, along with community leaders like councillor Katie Witherden, emphasize that Wales has the potential to become a leader in handling toxic contamination. By implementing comprehensive soil and blood testing programs, public health authorities could offer residents concrete data while pushing for remediation efforts at the numerous PCB-contaminated sites. For families living in these areas, knowing what they have been exposed to is not just a matter of curiosity—but a right that could lead to better protections and prevention measures in the future
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