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Australia among hotspots for toxic ‘forever chemicals’, study of PFAS levels finds

Australian limits on acceptable levels of these toxic chemicals in drinking water ‘orders of magnitude’ higher than in US

High levels of so-called forever chemicals have been found in surface and groundwater all over the world, with Australia one of several hotspots for toxic PFAS, a University of New South Wales study has found.

Researchers examined groundwater samples from around the world and found 69% had per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at levels above Canada’s safe drinking water criteria and 32% had levels higher than the US proposed drinking water hazard index.

They found Australia was one of several “hotspots” relative to the rest of the world, along with China, Europe and North America.

More than 14,000 human-made chemicals are PFAS, including PFHxS, PFOS and PFOA. They have been used in firefighting foams, insecticides, food packaging, non-stick frypans, clothing and cosmetics. They were created for their high heat tolerance, and water and oil repellent properties.

circuscritic ,

Australia has relatively strong unions, sensible gun laws, and single payer health care. That’s where the good news mostly ends.

It’s possibly even more corrupted then the US Government in how beholden it is to it’s oligarch class, and it’s mass media market has only two companies. One of which is the Murdoch press (News Corp), and they are actually slightly less evil and corrupt then their one competitor, Nine News/Entertainment.

They have also privatized their water supply to a large degree to benefit the cotton industry, so it’ll be interesting to see how, or if, they’ll even try to remedy this situation.

wintermute_oregon ,

Australia has a dual system. They have a single payer and a private system. It’s the model I think America should adopt.

Excrubulent ,
@Excrubulent@slrpnk.net avatar

I heard a CEO of one of those media companies being interviewed under oath by an investigation body about how they had effectively captured their regulator, with people from their companies running the regulation body. I can’t say more than that without breaching an NDA, but I think what I’ve said is broad enough to not be identifiable.

They basically put it to him that his company and their competition had colluded to control their own regulation so they could get away with charging whatever they wanted, and that that practice was so entrenched that it was just how they did business at this point.

His answer, which stunned the lawyers present and which I cannot forget after all these years: “Isn’t that how everybody does business?”

So I don’t mind that I can’t name & shame because I don’t think it would matter.

ace_garp ,
@ace_garp@lemmy.world avatar

In Australia, the high concentration areas of PFAS chemicals come from fire-fighting activities, that have sprayed or dropped aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).

From page 3 here: www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01402-8

—+±–

PFAS chemicals build up from training drills around airports. Which may then leach into groundwater. PFAS containing firefighting foams were used until 2010. Details from this 2018 article:

www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-31/…/10052660

autotldr Bot ,

This is the best summary I could come up with:

They found Australia was one of several “hotspots” relative to the rest of the world, along with China, Europe and North America.

PFAS have been linked to cancers, thyroid disease, altered sex hormone levels, reduced kidney function and lower birth weight in babies, but have not been proven to cause these conditions.

The study author, engineering professor Denis O’Carroll, said Australia’s limit on acceptable PFOA in drinking water was “orders of magnitude” higher than in the US.

The Australian government says most people are “very likely to have very low levels of PFAS in their bodies through exposure to everyday household items like carpet and upholstery protective sprays, cosmetics, sunscreens and some non-stick cookware”.

People who live near sites where PFAS has been released into the environment in large amounts may have higher levels, especially if they have been drinking contaminated bore water.

“The health effects reported in these associations are generally small and within normal ranges for the whole population,” the government’s statement says.

The original article contains 661 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

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