A new documentary from ITV, ‘In Our Blood: The Forever Chemicals Scandal’, reveals what it says are the high levels of forever chemicals found in residents of Bentham.

The documentary focuses on Angus Fire, who for decades have manufactured and tested PFAS firefighting foam at its factory in Bentham, North Yorkshire.

The government ultimately banned the firefighting foam in 2025.

This groundbreaking documentary reveals how those chemicals may have spread beyond the factory boundary and how a small town is coming to terms with what it means for them.

placeholder image — Main Street, Bentham.

The film, part of the BAFTA-winning ITV Exposure strand, follows residents and former workers - some battling cancer - as they undergo blood testing to find out whether the pollution in the environment has entered their bodies.

Nine of the 39 people tested had PFAS levels in the highest risk category, with one former worker of Angus Fire recording a blood PFAS level more than 200 times higher than the lower risk threshold.

In response to the PFAS blood test results in Bentham, Angus Fire said it is unfounded to classify the blood data as high because the UK does not have national blood PFAS guidance values.

With some lawyers in the US describing the contamination levels as a “smoking gun” and experts here saying the results are “staggering”, this is a story of a community demanding the truth about what happened, and who should answer for it - as awareness grows about the issue of potential PFAS contamination in the UK.

In Our Blood: The Forever Chemicals Scandal can be watched on catch up on ITVX.