Australian medical research body recommends cutting acceptable limits of PFAS chemicals in water

CANBERRA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) — Australia’s peak medical research authority has recommended significantly cutting the country’s acceptable limits of “forever chemicals” in drinking water.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) on Monday published new draft guidelines revising the safe limit of four per-and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals in drinking water.
Known as “forever chemicals” because of their persistence in the human body and environment for long periods, PFAS refers to a group of over 10,000 synthetic chemicals that are used in products including food packaging, cosmetics, clothing and cooking equipment.
According to the federal department of health, exposure to the PFAS chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is linked to an increased risk of testicular and kidney cancer.
Under the NHMRC draft guidelines, the safe limit of PFOA in drinking water will be lowered from 560 nanograms per liter (ng/L) to 200 ng/L while that for PFOS will be cut from 70 ng/L to 4 ng/L.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer in December 2023 declared PFOA as cancer-causing to humans and PFOA as possible carcinogenic.
Limits of 30 ng/L for perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and 1,000 ng/L for perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) have also been proposed by the NHMRC based on evidence of thyroid effects.
Steve Wesselingh, chief executive of the NHMRC, said that the new limits were set based on evidence from animal studies.
A public consultation period has been opened on the guidelines until November 22, after which the government will make a final decision on adopting the new limits. ■