Probable cancer-causing "forever chemicals" have been found in Sydney's drinking water supplies at levels that exceed overseas standards. or signup to continue reading But an expert says the discovery is no cause for alarm due to residents' existing exposure through a string of other sources. Sampling of treated water - including at the city's main reservoir of Warragamba Dam - revealed six sites with detectable levels of synthetic chemical compounds known as PFAS.
Such chemicals are found in everyday appliances from non-stick pans to clothing, insecticides and food packaging. Once in the environment, they don't degrade further, earning them the nickname "forever chemicals" Sydney Water testing conducted in June and published online without further notification shows one group of PFAS chemicals was found in filtered water from Warragamba, albeit on the cusp of detectable levels. Two other groups of PFAS chemicals tested were undetectable at Warragamba, which supplies 80 per cent of Sydney's drinking water.
Water filtration plants at Katoomba and Blackheath in the Blue Mountains had the highest results at about 30 nanograms per litre of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS). A nanogram is one-billionth of a gram, or the weight of an average human cell. Each result was below Australian drinking water standards, however those guidelines have been criticised as being out of date.
The United States recently set an enforceable threshold of f.