The University of South Australia’s Associate Professor Albert Juhasz, an expert in contaminant bioavailability, will lead the team after being awarded a $1.39 million grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Researchers will seek to better understand the extent to which PFAS enter the body and how they are absorbed.
PFAS have been in the headlines following news a class action was set to be filed on behalf of people living and working on land contaminated by the chemical compound.
It’s the largest class action lawsuit in Australia’s history, involving 40,000 residents whose towns have been polluted with chemicals from firefighting foams used by military bases.
PFAS chemicals had been used in firefighting foam used by the Defence Department from the 1970s until the 2000s.
They’re often referred to as “forever chemicals” because once they enter the human body, they remain there for decades.
PFAS chemicals are widely reputed to cause cancer and other health conditions such as reduced kidney function, high cholesterol and lower birth weights in newborn babies.
Lawyers will argue residents living in PFAS-contaminated areas have also seen their property prices fall significantly – up to 50 per cent in some cases.
Assoc Prof Juhasz warns of the ways humans can inadvertently be exposed to the chemicals.
“Children playing in soil may incidentally ingest these chemicals or even inhale them in fine dust. They may also be absorbed through the skin or through eating fruit and vegetables grown in soil irrigated with PFAS-contaminated water,” Assoc Prof Juhasz says.
“Our project will assess how people are exposed to these chemicals, where they accumulate in the body, and whether they are broken down – all essential information to help assess the health risk.”
