‘Forever chemicals’ found in blood of nearly 98 per cent of Queenslanders

Nearly 98 per cent of Queenslanders over the age of 12 have a detectable concentration of PFAS “forever chemicals” in their bloodstream.

The synthetic chemicals are found in everyday products ranging from the linings of takeaway coffee cups and pizza boxes to carpets and non-stick cookware. Once consumed, they take many years to exit the body.

PFAS chemicals have been found in Brisbane’s drinking water.Credit: William Davis

One of the most notorious forever chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), has been found in drinking water across Australia, and in some of the highest levels in south-east Queensland.

On Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released national and state-level data about the prevalence of 11 types of PFAS in the Australian population and found it is almost universally detectable in people.

The data was also broken down by sex and age, with PFAS concentrations in blood slightly higher in men than in women and gradually increasing from childhood to old age, peaking at age 75 and over. Data was gathered between 2022 and 2024.

The findings were “in line with expectations” because use of PFAS within products peaked between the 1980s and the early 2000s but has since fallen through efforts to reduce its usage.

In Queensland, the most common type of PFAS chemical – perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) – was found in the bloodstream of 97.8 per cent of people, while perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was found in 96.2 per cent of those tested.

Stuart Khan, a professor in the School of Civil and Engineering at the University of Sydney, said the results were “shocking but not surprising” and broadly in line with results from studies in other countries such as the United States.

“It’s not surprising that we knew that contamination is widespread. We’re all exposed to these chemicals, and it ends up in people’s blood, but it’s still shocking,” Khan said.

“These are synthetic chemicals that have never occurred naturally. So for millions of years, our ancestors were never exposed to them, and now we’re all walking around with these synthetic chemicals in our blood.”

The ABS said there was “currently limited evidence of human disease or other clinically significant harm resulting from PFAS exposure”, but that studies had found associations between people exposed to PFAS chemicals and some biological effects.

These included increased cholesterol and uric acid levels in the blood, reduced kidney function, lower birth weight in babies, later age for starting menstruation and earlier menopause, according to the federal Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

Khan said the public health implications of such widespread detectable PFAS in our systems was a matter of scientific uncertainty.

“It’s hard to really see epidemiological evidence of impacts, but there’s enough reason to be concerned; just the fact that we’re all carrying this around in our blood is enough to wonder what are we going to find out in a few generations’ time,” he said.

The data comes months after this masthead revealed that Brisbane’s drinking water contained levels of PFOA at seven times the level considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The state government initially declined to release the data, although Premier David Crisafulli promised “there would be accountability” if residents were found to be affected by the known cancer-causing chemicals.

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