Residents of a Queensland town at the centre of a Defence Department chemical scandal have been told not to eat food grown near the contamination zone, in a Defence-commissioned report.
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The warnings were contained in a report into problems at Oakey, north-west of Toowoomba, prepared by an independent company, which reviewed results from groundwater, soil and blood at the department’s request.
The department reportedly assured residents there were no likely health impacts from PFAS at a meeting in the Darling Downs town on Wednesday night.
But the Human Health Risk Assessment recommended residents should not use groundwater for drinking within the investigation area and even avoid bathing, showering, swimming in certain areas.
Consumption of homegrown eggs, vegetables and meat in parts of the area and fish caught within the entire contamination zone should also be minimised, the report warned.
The cautions represented a reinforcement of existing advice from Queensland Health, delivered after examining a wider range of data.
The report showed the chemicals had been detected in water underground as far as four kilometres from the base.
The US-based Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry notes scientists are uncertain about the possible health effects of PFAS (poly-fluoroalkyl substances) but high doses in animals have shown changes in liver, thyroid, and pancreatic function.
Defence has repeatedly said there was no consistent evidence exposure to the chemicals caused any adverse health effects in people.
The report, which noted PFAS had the potential to further concentrate its potency within the food chain over time, found an area to the south and south-west of the site, was most concerning, followed by an area slightly further out.
The risk of exposure for residents in the wider zone was considered “low and acceptable” but drinking the groundwater was still warned against.
“The assessment undertaken within this HHRA concludes that if people living, working or undertaking recreation within the Management Area follow the existing precautionary advice from Queensland Health to minimise their intake of PFAS, they are unlikely to exceed the TDI (Tolerable Daily Intake,” the report concluded.
“Conversely, it is concluded that unrestricted exposure to PFAS across the Management Area is likely to result in an exceedance of the TDI.”
AECOM technical officer Paul McCabe told the audience the contamination zone was still growing as authorities learned more about PFAS, according to the ABC.
"PFAS is an unusual contaminant compared to most of the things we normally deal with because it does affect soil, it affects groundwater," he said.
"It migrates very easily in surface and groundwater and it's taken up by plants and animals — there aren't many other contaminants that do all of those things."
