They’re called “forever chemicals” because once they enter the human body, they remain there for decades.
The toxic contaminants – widely known as PFAS – have dominated the media in recent weeks in the wake of 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.
Widely reputed to cause cancer and other health conditions – such as reduced kidney function, high cholesterol and lower birth weights in newborn babies – the perfluoroalkyl substances have been on the Federal Government’s radar for some time.
Associate Professor Albert Juhasz, an expert in contaminant bioavailability at the University of South Australia, has been awarded a $1.39 million grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council to investigate the different pathways that humans can be exposed to these toxic chemicals.
Read more at University of South Australia
Photo Credit: MONGO via Wikimedia Commons
