00:00Catherine moved her family to the Blue Mountains for a cleaner, greener life.
00:08Then she started getting sick.
00:10I had been unwell for many years with many different things
00:14and I thought something in my house was poisoning me.
00:17When it emerged she'd been drinking water with elevated PFAS levels,
00:21she had her blood tested.
00:23I found out I've got extremely high blood levels
00:26and, well, they're dangerously high.
00:29Catherine and her son both have levels that exceed some averages
00:34among the nation's most exposed communities.
00:38The initial contamination from the Forever chemicals
00:41is thought to have occurred in 1992.
00:44Basically I've been away from here for the past 20 years
00:46and I was here in the 90s.
00:49I think it says that in the past there were probably
00:52very high levels of PFAS in the water.
00:54After seeing his own above-average results,
00:57Stop PFAS Action Group leader John Dee has engaged lawyers
01:01demanding government-funded screening.
01:04He believes the results could explain high cholesterol levels,
01:08which have a proven association with PFAS,
01:11but many can't afford the $500 test.
01:15An Australian study on communities exposed to PFAS
01:18found high levels of psychological distress,
01:21but its lead author thinks there's little benefit
01:24in testing small populations.
01:26If people say, oh, I've got high cholesterol or I've got cancer,
01:31it's impossible for that relationship, you know,
01:35to understand that relationship and blame it on PFAS.
01:38New South Wales Health says there's not enough evidence
01:41to link PFAS levels to current or future health issues.
01:45They're hoping that they can just say, oh, well,
01:49the water's being treated now, we've got new water,
01:51problem solved, move on.
01:53A community wanting clarity and support.
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