Queensland Health warns fish caught in Warrill Creek and the Bremer River near Amberley RAAF Base should not be eaten, after they were poisoned by the Department of Defence.
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DoD testing of perch, mullet and eel showed high levels of PFAS chemicals, which were found in the toxic firefighting foam that leaked from a Qantas hangar at Brisbane Airport last year.
An urgent health warning has been issued and Queensland Health said in a statement there was the potential for elevated health risks for people who eat the fish over a long period of time.
"Queensland Health has provided Department of Defence with recommendations so that it could notify the public and undertake further testing," the statement read.
"As an interim precaution, until Department of Defence can carry out further testing, people should not eat fish caught within this locality."
Queensland Health confirmed the Department of Defence was responsible for the pollution and that people who have eaten fish from Amberley infrequently should not have elevated PFAS levels.
A Defence spokesperson said the DoD would notify residents in the affected area and conduct further tests.
"In April 2018, as part of the PFAS investigation at and around RAAF Base Amberley, initial testing for PFAS was conducted on seafood (mullet, catfish and eel) in the Bremer River and Warrill Creek," the Department of Defence said in a statement.
"Further testing and analysis will be carried out by Defence as part of the Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) being undertaken as part of the environmental investigation. This testing will include tests of other species of more popular edible fish in the area.
"Defence is committed to regularly updating the community throughout the investigation and will be letterbox dropping all residents in the investigation area detailing this precautionary advice and updating the community on further sampling to be conducted in the process of finalising the HHRA.
"This is precautionary advice, based on preliminary test results, and we will keep the community and recreational fishers updated as the investigation progresses."
The Queensland government has also launched an investigation into allegations an Ipswich compost manufacturer used contaminated water from Amberley RAAF Base containing the toxic firefighting chemicals to feed its compost.
The PFAS chemicals were also found at the Gladstone and Bundaberg ports but local authorities were confident the toxic substances had not infiltrated the town water supplies.
