Article Summary
Residents of a tourist hotspot in the Blue Mountains, NSW, are planning a class action against the NSW government and Sydney Water for enabling them to drink from a contaminated water supply for decades with carcinogenic ‘forever chemicals’ called PFAS. Two motor vehicle accident sites and a rural fire brigade station are potential sources of contamination, with PFAS levels 300 times higher than Sydney’s main drinking water source. While the water still meets Australian guidelines for safe drinking water, residents’ tests reveal PFAS in their bloodstream, nearly 50 times the level considered safe by chemicals manufacturer 3M. PFAS exposure increases the risk of testicular and kidney cancer, affecting the immune system and causing developmental damage in children.
What This Means for You
- If you are a resident of the Blue Mountains, you may have been exposed to harmful PFAS through your drinking water, with increased health risks.
- You can get your blood tested for PFAS levels, although the value of individual tests is debated among scientists.
- If you are affected by PFAS exposure, you may want to join the class action against the NSW government and Sydney Water for free PFAS blood testing and compensation.
- While health authorities claim current drinking water is safe, they did not quantify the current rate of PFAS discharge or the total mass of PFAS previously discharged in surface water and groundwater. Moreover, the risks to human health and the environment from exposure to PFAS at the source areas have not been quantified.
Original Post
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of 15,000 highly toxic, synthetic chemicals resistant to heat, stains and grease, dubbed “forever chemicals” because of their inability to break down.
PFAs detected in Blue Mountains
PFAS levels were found to be about 300 times higher than Sydney’s main drinking water source but they still met Australian guidelines for safe drinking water.
Two separate motor vehicle accident sites on the Great Western Highway in 1992 and 2002 near the Medlow Bath township, and the Medlow Bath Rural Fire Brigade station were all identified as possible sources of contamination in the Adams Creek and Medlow catchments.
Residents to pursue class action
“People in the Blue Mountains have been drinking toxic tap water for 32 years,” he told AAP.
While the value of individual blood tests is debated among
Key Terms
- PFAS
- Forever chemicals
- Blue Mountains
- Class action
- Contaminated water supply
- Water contamination
- Erin Brockovich-level scandal
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