New drinking water guidelines in Australia are expected to target potentially carcinogenic chemicals known as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances).
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has released draft guidelines that will propose much lower limits for four types of PFAS than those included in the last guidelines published in 2018.
High levels of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”, have been found in groundwater across Australia, with a University of New South Wales study published earlier this year describing the Australia as a “hotspot” for these substances.
The NHMRC guidelines are now open for public consultation, with the final guidelines due to be published in April 2025.
What are PFAS?
PFAS is the abbreviated name for a family of manufactured chemicals used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s.
There are more than 4,000 types of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) valued for their heat-resistant, water-repellent and stain-resistant properties.
They are found in a wide range of products, including food packaging, makeup, paint, carpets and, in previous decades, certain types of firefighting foam.
Why are PFAS chemicals problematic?
PFAS are sometimes referred to as forever chemicals because they are long-lived and do not break down easily.
An agency of the World Health Organization has classified PFOA as a human carcinogen and PFOS as a possible carcinogen.
Experts say they are ubiquitous, meaning they are found everywhere on earth, in the air, soil, water and our bodies.
How do PFAS affect humans?
Scientists suspect that PFAS could pose broad health risks, including cancer, but research is inconclusive.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cites peer-reviewed scientific studies showing that exposure to certain levels of PFAS could lead to an increased risk of prostate, kidney and testicular cancer.
The EU says PFAS can lead to liver damage, thyroid disease, obesity, fertility problems and cancer.
Australians typically have at least three types of PFAS in their bodies: PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS.
What are the new proposed guidelines?
- PFOS reduced from 70 nanograms per liter to 4 ng/L
- FOA reduced from 560ng/L to 200ng/L
- New limits for PFHxS (30ng/L) and PFBS (1000ng/L)
- No health-based guiding values are proposed for GenX chemicals, which are restricted in the United States and Europe.
Why are Australia’s PFAS guidelines different from other countries?
The proposed drinking water guidelines are less strict than those in the European Union, the United States and Canada.
Australia has placed less emphasis on human studies on the effects of PFAS than the United States, due to quality issues.
Officials say new brands always exercise caution and are based on comprehensive assessments of the latest evidence.
Should you be concerned about PFAS in drinking water?
Oliver Jones, professor of chemistry at RMIT, said the presence of PFAS in water does not necessarily mean the water is toxic or sufficient to cause harm.
“The dose makes the poison, everything is toxic at the right dose, even water,” he said.
“For example, we know you can get skin cancer from too much sun exposure, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get cancer as soon as you go out.”
Jones believes Australian drinking water does not contain dangerously high levels of PFAS.
“Although some PFAS have been associated with health effects, the concentrations needed to cause such effects are much higher than levels typically found in Australian drinking waters,” Jones said.
“On top of that, we don’t know if the primary source of PFAS exposure for most people is water.”
Kerry Chant, NSW’s chief medical officer, has reassured people the risks are low and warned against getting a blood test for PFAS.
“PFAS is a ubiquitous chemical and we don’t really know how to interpret the tests. Generally, we don’t test for what we don’t know how to interpret.”
