EXCLUSIVE: ‘WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT HAS DONE TO US’: LAUNDERS LANE RESIDENTS CALL FOR BLOOD TESTING.
Residents living near Launders Lane are calling for blood testing to be made available to people who live, or have previously lived, close to the Rainham landfill site, as a separate investigation in Lancashire has found elevated levels of a so-called ‘forever chemical’ in the blood of residents living near an industrial site.
Campaigners in Rainham say the latest findings in Thornton-Cleveleys have added to their calls for residents living close to Launders Lane to be given the opportunity to establish whether they have been exposed to potentially harmful substances.
In Lancashire, blood samples from 49 residents living close to the Hillhouse industrial site in Thornton-Cleveleys were tested for PFAS chemicals, including PFOA.
The testing, arranged by law firm Leigh Day and carried out by experts from Manchester Metropolitan University, found that 69.4 per cent of those tested had PFOA levels above 20 nanograms per millilitre.
Leigh Day reported that none of the 49 participants had results in the lowest category, while the average level recorded was 26 nanograms per millilitre.
PFOA is part of the PFAS group of chemicals, commonly referred to as ‘forever chemicals’ because they can persist in the environment for long periods.
The Lancashire case has now become a significant point of reference for campaigners elsewhere who are asking whether communities living close to potentially contaminated sites should have access to more information about possible exposure.
And in Rainham, residents living close to Launders Lane say they want similar questions answered.
Campaigner Catherine, who has been campaigning on behalf of Rainham residents for years, told The Havering Daily:
“Residents who are living or have lived close to Launders Lane should be eligible for testing.
“Residents have been saying for at least since the steering group was set up that they need protections in place and these include testing to see who is affected.”
She said Shaun and Coral had raised the issue of mass testing with Havering Council.
“Shaun and Coral have raised this with the Council about arranging mass testing, recently and again this morning.
“Their response was, that’s not down to us to organise that. Shaun asked them to influence the decision.”
Residents living around Launders Lane have for years raised concerns about smoke, fires, odours and air quality around the site, with campaigners continuing to call for greater protection and investigation.
Their latest demand is for residents who live, or have previously lived, close to the site to be considered for appropriate testing so that there is more information about whether they have been exposed to pollutants.
For Launders Lane campaigners, the argument is that residents should not have to guess about what they may have been exposed to.
Catherine said residents had been raising the issue of protection and testing for years.
“They wake up to the most challenging conditions possible and fight for the right of clean air.
“They want the right to breathe like everyone else.
“Rainham residents are the forgotten people.”
The demand now being put forward by campaigners is for the relevant authorities to consider whether a properly designed health and environmental monitoring programme should be introduced for people living close to Launders Lane.
For residents, the Lancashire case has brought the question into sharper focus: if communities living near potentially contaminated sites can be tested elsewhere, should the people living alongside Launders Lane at least have the opportunity to find out what, if anything, they have been exposed to?
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