saliva

The 53-year-old has been told for the past five years that he is terminally ill and knows he could die tomorrow by choking on food or on his own saliva.

Lisa Topping, from Saffron Walden, Essex, sent a saliva sample to Atlas Biomed several years ago, paying around £100 for a personalised genetic report.

It spreads through birds' droppings and saliva, or through contaminated feed and water.

But, from those heady days of millions of people rushing to send it saliva samples in return for detailed reports about their ancestry, family connections and genetic make-up, it now finds itself fighting for its survival.

“There have been previous studies done in other countries where they’ve seen the same issue of black plastic being contaminated with flame retardants, as well as studies which show flame retardants can leach from kitchen utensils into food and into children’s saliva through the mouthing of toys,” Megan Liu, study co-author and science and policy manager at Toxic-Free Future, told CNN.