What he told me made my blood run cold - Michael Sheen investigates Wales' toxic legacy

Michael Phillips, a Wales native, spent his childhood in the 1980s playing near a lagoon, blissfully unaware that the rusted barrels contained toxic chemicals. Decades later, several of his friends and Phillips himself were diagnosed with rare cancers, which they suspect may be linked to their childhood exposure. Douglas Gowan, a researcher and whistleblower, had tried to warn about 14 such sites across Wales, but his concerns fell on deaf ears.

Hollywood actor Michael Sheen, who interviewed Gowan just months before the latter's death, described Gowan's revelations as making his blood run cold. Gowan alleged that the chemical giant Monsanto had dumped vast amounts of industrial chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), in Wales. These chemicals, Gowan described as "some of the worst contaminants known to man," were widely used in the last century for various products, including lipstick and white goods. PCBs, he said, accumulate in the environment, animals, and humans.

PCBs are now known as "the godfather of forever chemicals" due to their stability and resistance to breakdown. They can leach into waterways and the sea, posing a long-term threat to human health. Despite bans on PCBs since the 1970s, they continue to linger in the environment. Gowan recounted a fire at a lagoon in Wrexham in the 1980s, which took firefighters 60 men and 18 hours to control, with the effects felt up to 20 miles away.

Phillips and his friends witnessed the fire and believe their exposure to these chemicals began manifesting in 2001 when Phillips started developing lumps on his shoulder, eventually leading to cancer. His surgeon, a man with a distinguished 40-year career, remarked that this type of cancer was strange, and Phillips' friend who died of breast cancer used to frequent the lagoon.

Phillips has had friends succumb to brain cancer, and another is battling it. Their blood tests revealed higher-than-average PCB levels, and Phillips' blood tested positive for 81 different types of PCBs, even though he didn't live near any dump sites.

Sheen, now continuing Gowan's investigation, expressed his chilling thoughts on the matter: "It's chilling to think that having any PCBs in your blood is normal, when 90 years ago no one would have had them as they didn't exist." The actor also had his blood tested, revealing 81 different types of PCBs. "There is no safe level of PCBs," Sheen said, "it's a risk all of us have to try and manage."