Australia is planning to dramatically lower what is considered a safe level of PFAS in our drinking water. The ‘forever chemicals’ have been linked to cancer and take thousands of years to break down. New draft guidelines released today could see levels lowered, but with major polluters based overseas, it’s unclear who will bear the cost.
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00:00They're in our clothes, cooking products and make-up.
00:06PFAS chemicals have even made it into drinking water.
00:11Now health authorities are trying to limit that.
00:14Our goal is to produce the highest quality evidence-based guidelines that will enable
00:21the states and the water suppliers to supply safe, clean water.
00:26A growing body of research is linking long-term PFAS exposure to cancer and thyroid issues.
00:33Every day of your life, two litres of water per day.
00:38The proposed limits follow a crackdown in the US.
00:42Under the guidelines, the safe levels of four PFAS chemicals would be slashed, but PFOA,
00:47recently declared carcinogenic by the World Health Organisation, would still be 50 times
00:52higher than America's limit.
00:55The forever chemicals have been used across the country, including in firefighting foam.
01:00But most drinking water has never been tested for PFAS, so the true extent of the problem
01:05remains unknown.
01:07However, recent samples taken in Sydney detected some of the chemicals at several water filtration plants.
01:14Drinking water remains safe if it complies with the current guideline.
01:19Authorities say the draft guidelines could mean one supply in the Blue Mountains would
01:23not be compliant, and there would likely be more.
01:26I think there will be lots of communities that are out of compliance with that and we
01:32will need to put in solutions.
01:34Technology to remove the chemicals is costly.
01:38Customer bills would increase to reflect the additional costs.
01:43There are legal options available to us.
01:44We do want to make sure that the cost to the community of pollution is borne by the polluter.
01:50The proposal is open for feedback and will be finalised by April next year.
01:55The onus then falls on state and territory governments to enforce any new standards.