Residents of Camelford, Cornwall consumed water “unfit for human consumption” in July 1988 after a lorry driver accidentally dumped 20 tonnes of aluminium sulphate into a reservoir.
A new study, conducted by Paul Altmann of Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, looked at the effects of the pollution on 55 people, along with 15 of their siblings who were affected. “People who were exposed to the contaminated water at Camelfod suffered considerable damage to cerebral function, which was not related to anxiety,” Altmann’s study states.
The UK Government has consistently attributed victims’ symptoms to anxiety.