- by Anna Pha
- The Guardian
- Issue #2104
Graphic: usgs.gov (C00)
Recent media reports have drawn attention to what are known as ‘forever chemicals.’ These carcinogenic chemicals have been detected in tap water around Australia as well as in clothing, construction materials, fire-fighting foam, and on military facilities.
The two chemicals referred to as PFOS and PFOA, are part of a broader family of more than 14,000 chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). They are called ‘forever chemicals’ because they never break down in the environment and linger for years in the human body.
Research has consistently shown that PFAS are associated with a number of serious health effects including thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol, liver damage, and kidney and testicular cancer.
An analysis of publicly available data by Nine print media indicates that the chemicals have been found in the drinking water of up to 1.8 million Australians since 2010, and at dangerously high levels in Australia’s ground water.
They are highly mobile, accumulating in food chains and water sources. Because of the widespread use of PFAS, these chemicals are now present in water, soil, and living organisms, and can be found across almost every part of the planet, including Arctic glaciers, marine mammals, remote communities living on subsistence diets, and in 98 per cent of the American public.
In a 2011 study ranging across Australia, the highest levels in tap water were seen at Glenunga, in inner-city Adelaide, where PFOS were nearly quadruple the UN enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion (ppt). SA Water says it does not monitor for forever chemicals as sources of PFAS had not been identified!
Other locations include the Sydney suburbs of North Richmond, Quakers Hill, Liverpool, Blacktown, Emu Plains and Campbelltown, along with the NSW regional centres of Newcastle, Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Lithgow, Gundagai, and Yass.
They have also been detected in tap water in Canberra, the inner Melbourne suburb of Footscray, inner-city Adelaide, the Queensland regional centres of Cairns and Gladstone, Kingborough in greater Hobart, and parts of Darwin and the Northern Territory.
Various water providers have carried out their own localised surveillance in recent years, which confirms the chemicals are still turning up in some of the same locations they were first found in 2011, sometimes at higher concentrations.
Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith, a toxic chemicals campaigner who has served on United Nations expert committees, slammed it as a “national disgrace” that PFOA is now permitted in Australia’s tap water at 140 times the maximum level the US will allow. That must change immediately.
If you are thinking of switching to bottled water, then think again. Studies have found PFAS in some of the bottles tested and at higher levels in sparkling than still water. If the bottles are plastic, that is another reason to think twice. One study found trace levels of PFAS in 39 bottles of water out of more than 100 tested.
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
Researchers have found the chemicals in 943 different consumer products since 2010. These include sanitary pads, contact lenses, dental floss, nut butter, ketchup, sports bras, makeup, children’s backpacks, deodorants, sandwich bags, shaving cream, cleansers, sprays to cleanse glasses, and bandages.
A University of Notre Dame study found 82 per cent of waterproof mascaras, 63 per cent of foundations, and 62 per cent of liquid lipsticks contained PFAS. They were usually marked as ‘wear-resistant’ or ‘long-lasting.’
Terms such as ‘stain- or water-resistant,’ ‘prevention of condensation,’ such as on glasses, are also indicators that PFAS may be present.
CULPRITS
The forever chemicals were invented in the 1930s by 3M, now a multi-billion dollar company. PFOS can now be found in the blood of people worldwide, including in almost every Australian, at average levels 20 times higher than what 3M’s own scientists considered safe.
One of the most notorious chemicals in the PFAS family was the key ingredient in 3M’s popular fabric protector Scotchguard until it was phased out in 2000. 3M replaced the offending ingredient with another type of forever chemical called PFBS. PFBS was removed from the product in 2020.
3M faced lawsuits in the US and announced a settlement worth at least $US10.3 billion (AU$15.6b) in June 2023. Public water systems were left to pay for PFAS testing and treatment. 3M also agreed to a historic US$19 billion (AU$29b) payout to clean up thousands of water supplies across the US.
In April this year, the Australian government confirmed that it is contemplating suing 3M to for some of its financial losses from the spread of contamination across the country.
3M sold PFOA to Dupont, which used it to create non-stick Teflon pots and pans.
The Healthy Building Network site has a guide to the levels of these chemicals found in products used in the construction industry such as flooring, paint, countertops, doors, insulation, water pipes, waterproofing, damp-proofing, as well as fire-fighting foam. Different products are rated on a scale from high risk red through to low risk green on their toxicity.
The federal government has been defending class actions over its use of the chemicals in firefighting foam and denying they cause “important” health effects. It reached the first settlement with 11 communities collectively worth $366 million. The Federal Court’s independent expert concluded there was good evidence the chemicals potentially cause harmful health effects, including cancer.
Rather than acting on the science or even the precautionary principle, the Australian government, contends that forever chemicals are unlikely to cause “important” health effects.
AUSTRALIA
In April 2020 government settled three class actions launched by households near defence bases at Williamtown, Oakey, and Katherine, after their land was polluted with PFAS.
In 2016 a Newcastle Herald investigation uncovered 50 cancer cases along a NSW road heavily polluted with PFAS.
A further 24 military sites in Australia are being investigated or managed for PFAS contamination.
The government has banned the import, use and manufacture of 3 of the more common types of PFAS (PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS) from 1 July 2025.
Widespread testing of Australia’s drinking water is an absolute must. Contamination has been uncovered in suburbs significant distances from where fire-fighting foam has been used. With climate change more bush fires are almost certain and with them the toxic foam.
Lloyd-Smith said people should opt for garments made from natural fibres rather than synthetic fabrics that may have been treated with PFAS.
The Australian government banned three of the most notorious “forever chemicals” at the end of last year. Without a complete ban on the entire family of chemicals, the public’s only avenue to avoid exposure was to pay close attention to product labels, Dr Lloyd-Smith said.
“If the label isn’t clear, then think about buying something else,” she said.
“Don’t think they wouldn’t sell it if it wasn’t safe … we’ve shown that to be wrong.”
171 other countries have banned PFOS (through ratification of the 2009 amendment listing PFOS under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants).
In 2016, Queensland became the first state to ban AFFF which is the most dispersive form of PFAS contamination.
Graphic: usgs.gov (C00)
