What he told me made my blood run cold - Michael Sheen investigates Wales' toxic legacy
Michael Sheen investigates Wales' toxic legacy in a new BBC iPlayer documentary, exploring the alleged dumping of industrial chemicals by Monsanto. The documentary highlights the potential link between these chemicals and rare cancers developed by people who played near contaminated sites as children. The chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are known to be stable and resistant to extreme temperatures and pressures, and have been linked to toxicity in humans and animals.
- ▪Researcher and whistleblower Douglas Gowan tried to sound the alarm about 14 contaminated sites, 12 of which were in Wales, before his death.
- ▪Gowan alleged that Monsanto had dumped huge amounts of industrial chemicals, including PCBs, which are considered some of the worst contaminants known to man.
- ▪The chemicals have been linked to rare cancers developed by people who played near contaminated sites as children, including Michael Phillips and his friends.
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| Original publisher | BBC News — Science |
| Canonical URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czekx5g39elo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss |
| Publication time | Mon, 10 Aug 2026 23:25:12 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-08-10T23:25:45.198Z |
| Last seen | 2026-08-10T23:25:45.198Z |
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What he told me made my blood run cold - Michael Sheen investigates Wales' toxic legacyImage source, Wall to Wall MediaImage caption, Michael Sheen investigates Wales' toxic legacy in a new BBC iPlayer documentary ByRowenna Hoskin, BBC Wales and Steffan Messenger, Wales environment correspondentPublishedJust nowMichael Phillips spent his childhood in the 1980s playing with friends at a lagoon, firing air guns at rusty barrels that released clouds of coloured powder - completely oblivious to the toxic chemicals within.Decades later, several of those friends and Phillips himself have developed rare cancers, which they believe may be linked to this.Researcher and whistleblower Douglas Gowan tried to sound the alarm about 14 such sites - 12 of which were in Wales - but died before his…
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