Water quality expert calls for wider PFAS ban as NSW community seeks blood tests on ‘poisoned’ land

A water quality expert says the Australian government should expand a planned ban of PFAS as a New South Wales indigenous community called for funding for blood tests for people living on “poisoned” land.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a group of several thousand synthetic compounds, are found in a wide variety of products including waterproof fabrics, food packaging, hygiene products and firefighting foam. They are sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals” because they are slow to break down and persist in the environment for extended periods.

In recommendations set to be tabled at a Senate inquiry into PFAS on Wednesday morning, Prof Stuart Khan, the head of the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney, called for a “far-reaching ban for PFAS used in products made inside and outside Australia”.

The impacts of many PFAS chemicals are not known, but certain compounds have been linked to adverse health effects, such as PFOA – a compound used to make Teflon – and PFOS, formerly the key ingredient in Scotchgard.

A health study conducted by the Australian National University in three communities with known PFAS contamination, published in 2021, found a link between PFAS exposure and higher cholesterol levels.

In December 2023, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified PFOA as cancer-causing to humans – in the same category as tobacco smoking and alcoholic beverages – and PFOS as “possibly” carcinogenic.

In the same month, the Australian government reclassified PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS on the chemicals register: from 1 July this year, products containing these compounds will be banned from import, manufacture and use in Australia.

Khan called for that ban to be expanded “to include a much wider range of PFAS”.

“Almost every molecule of PFAS that has ever been synthesised is still with us in PFAS form. Some do break down – but mostly into new PFAS,” he wrote. “Proper and thorough risk assessment would have revealed the ‘forever chemical’ nature of PFAS at the time they were first introduced to products used in Australia.”

Khan also called for improved testing and mandatory labelling on PFAS products. “When we export any beef or wine to Europe they do lots of residue testing for pesticides. We should do the same thing for PFAS coming in,” he told Guardian Australia.