New water guidelines for PFAS: What GPs need to know

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has recommended tougher rules on the amount of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) allowed in Australia’s drinking water.
 
The new draft guidelines are a part of the National Water Quality Management Strategy and are now open to public consultation.
 
PFAS are human-made chemicals that most people are exposed to throughout their lifetime through their extensive use in industrial applications and consumer products around the world.
 
The NHMRC’s guidelines indicate the amount of PFAS in drinking water that a person can consume daily over a lifetime ‘without any appreciable risk to health’.
 
Particularly, there have been issues with PFAS in hotspot areas in Australia – with previous research focussing on Katherine in the Northern Territory, Oakey in Queensland and Williamtown in New South Wales.
 
Dr Catherine Pendrey, Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Climate and Environmental Medicine, told newsGP it is ‘positive’ that the NHMRC, based on human health considerations, has proposed reducing the allowable levels of PFAS substances allowed in drinking water.
 
‘Because PFAS substances persist in the environment and have the potential to accumulate over time, it is important to take a precautionary approach to preventing exposure to these substances,’ she said.
 
‘Studies in animals have raised concerns about potential for a wide range of adverse health effects, including developmental, hormonal, reproductive and systematic toxicity.’
 
Dr Pendrey, who has worked as a GP in areas affected by PFAS contamination, has seen community fears firsthand.
 
‘There certainly is a high level of community concern about the potential health impacts of these substances, when they enter the water supply,’ she said.
 
So, what do GPs need to know?
 
For concerned patients who have had their blood tested, the Australian Government’s PFAS website advises they speak to their GP about what the results could mean but cautions against drawing any finite conclusions.
 
‘These tests are not routine and there is at present insufficient scientific evidence for a medical practitioner to be able to tell a person whether their blood level will make them sick now or later in life, or if any current health problems are related to the PFAS levels found in their blood,’ it states.
 
It does not recommend GPs initiate testing, as ‘blood tests have no diagnostic or prognostic value’.
 
But, on a population level, it says ‘blood tests can inform a community that they have been exposed to PFAS at a level above that of the general population’.
 
‘Monitoring pooled community blood samples over time may help determine the success of exposure reduction measures in reducing blood levels of PFAS,’ it reads.
 
Water and Health Consultant Dr Daniel Deere assures that anyone at risk of an abnormal PFAS exposure will be alerted by authorities.
 
‘You don’t need to change your drinking water habits as a result of PFAS or of the latest guidelines,’ he said.
 
‘Our concerns are largely limited to a small number of hotspots where there has been extensive use of firefighting foam in the past, eg directly adjacent to airports or firefighting training grounds.
 
‘These have been identified and the PFAS risk is well understood and being actively monitored and managed.’
 
University of Adelaide Faculty of Medicine Senior Lecturer Dr Ian Musgrave explained that there will likely be ‘limited health impacts from this revision’ for the majority of Australians.
 
‘As most potable water supplies in Australia either have no detectable PFAS, or levels already below the new limits,’ he said.
 
The guidelines won’t be final until the public consultation is complete, and they are adopted by the states and territories.
 
Submissions on the draft guidance will close on 22 November, before the final guidance will be published in April 2025.
 
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National Health and Medical Research Council NHMRC per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances PFAS pollution public health