00:00PFAS chemicals are man-made chemicals that are known for their heat, stain and water-resistant
00:07qualities.
00:08They are pervasive in the environment and also don't easily break down in the human
00:13body.
00:14They're found in everyday products like non-stick pans and makeup and were really widely used
00:19in things like firefighting foam back in the 1980s up until they were banned about a decade
00:25ago here in Australia.
00:27As a result, they're found quite widespread in the environment.
00:33Really the ground zero for PFAS chemicals and regulations is the United States where
00:39these chemicals were manufactured and there have been many, many issues with environmental
00:45concerns and a growing body of evidence of health impacts such as cancers like thyroid
00:50cancer and kidney cancer.
00:52Now the US EPA conducted a major review where it imposed some of the world's strictest guidelines
00:59when it comes to safe levels in drinking water.
01:02As a result, Australia was inspired somewhat and followed in the footsteps of the United
01:08States and conducted its own review.
01:10Now the draft guidelines of that review have been handed down and Australia is proposing
01:16to slash the safe levels of PFAS chemicals in Australian drinking water by up to three
01:22times of what we've got in place at the moment.
01:25So there are 14,000 chemicals of PFAS, four of them for which we measure and can test
01:32in Australia.
01:33One of those chemicals will be slashed to the same level as they have in the United
01:38States and the two others will be more lenient.
01:42Now these are draft guidelines and are open for public consultation until the end of November
01:48from which the National Health and Medical Research Council will review the consultation
01:54and the feedback for these regulations to then be reviewed, potentially changed, made
02:00tighter or even looser compared to what has been proposed today and they will come in
02:04place from April of next year.
02:07Then it is on to the state and territory governments who oversee and regulate those
02:13water suppliers to then make sure that their water supplies for all Australians reach these
02:18new standards.
02:20Now the biggest question everyone will have is, is our drinking water as it stands currently
02:25safe?
02:26There will be some looking back on some of our drinking water here in Australia and some
02:31of it will not be considered safe under these new guidelines.
02:35For example, they're in the Blue Mountains on the outskirts of Sydney in New South Wales.
02:41Recent tests have come up with concerning levels of PFOS and PFOS, these different types
02:46of chemicals, the PFAS chemicals and if we look at that with the view of these new proposed
02:52guidelines that drinking water will not be considered safe.
02:56So the hope is that state and territory governments use these new guidelines to conduct testing
03:01and then potentially impose technologies to try and remove PFAS or people can take their
03:06own steps and their own action to ensure that they're drinking the safest water possible.
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