Dockers’ union T&G (now part of Unite) issued an urgent warning in 1996 to members working with nuts. The union said it was concerned that imported nuts were frequently contaminated with aflatoxins, a cause of liver cancer. The union said that in the year up to May 1996 one in every four containers of groundnuts, pistachios, walnuts and cashew nuts tested by Southampton Port Authorities had aflatoxin contamination above legally permitted levels. Union members working on the docks first became concerned when environmental health officers examining nut cargoes appeared wearing positive pressure respirators. The Health and Safety Executive has told workers that paper masks were good enough.

Aflatoxins in peanut dust, T&G Docks Section circular, 1996.