The main reason is that we are generating more waste. Since 1991, companies have been allowed to burn toxic waste to power industrial processes. But because the chemicals they burn are classified as 'fuel', rather than 'waste', they are not required to fit proper scrubbing equipment to their chimneys. In 1998 the United Kingdom's largest factories released more than 10,000 tonnes of cancer-causing chemicals into the air. The result, says Van Steenis, is an explosive increase in certain diseases.
Hypothyroidism seems to be linked to volatile organic pollutants.
Fluorides are associated with certain forms of arthritis and rheumatism, while heavy metals have been blamed for cancer, heart disease and strokes. Pollution, in short, is becoming one of Britain's major health hazards. It is hard to believe that these chemicals would have been allowed to spread so far and so fast if most of the people they poisoned were rich and powerful. 662 of the UK's largest factories are in places in which the average household income is less than pounds 15,000. Five are in places whose average income is more than pounds 30,000.