Lead pollution from abandoned metal mines is contaminating produce, animals and potentially drinking water across England and Wales, according to an official review that calls for more research into the long‑term health risks for nearby communities.

The rapid review, ordered by ministers after a FT investigation, found pollution from former mines and smelting sites could potentially affect both human and animal health by contaminating food, water and soil. The UK has 6,630 disused industrial lead mines, more than half of them in England, which continue to release lead into rivers and surrounding land decades after they closed. The toxic metal can accumulate in soils and waterways before entering the food chain through crops and livestock. Even low levels of lead exposure are associated with harmful effects on humans, particularly in children.

The review, which cost £114,250, concluded that produce grown and animals reared near former mining sites “can have high, potentially toxic concentrations of metals”, with the potential to harm human health. It drew on 156 scientific studies published between 1944 and last year. Conducted by the University of Nottingham, it found that “the human health risks and impacts due to consuming produce produced on or near metal mine or smelter‑contaminated soils are globally not well studied or documented” and stressed the need for more research. For people living in these areas and whose water comes from a private water supply, contaminated drinking water also “has the potential to impact health”, according to the report.