She was dogged by health issues. Then this Sydney woman found cancer chemicals in her blood

A Blue Mountains woman has discovered her blood contains high levels of cancer-linked chemicals in the first case of test results made public since revelations the contaminants had found their way into the region’s tap water.

The woman has demanded an “urgent and immediate response” to the unfolding crisis by banning the entire family of per- and polyfluoralkyl (PFAS) chemicals in Australia after discovering levels in her blood significantly eclipse those typically seen among the public.

A woman in the Blue Mountains has found high levels of PFAS in her blood after the region’s drinking water supply was contaminated.

Her levels also outstripped averages for residents of other heavily contaminated locations across the nation and were more than 10 times higher than a “safe” level secretly calculated by one of the manufacturers, global chemicals behemoth 3M Company.

The lab results, with the woman’s name redacted, have been tendered to a Senate inquiry probing the extent of the so-called “forever chemicals” pollution across the country.

The development comes as this masthead reveals a secretive bid to prevent the media and public from being able to access monitoring data held about levels of PFAS found in drinking water supplies.

‘Something was poisoning me’

Over three decades living in Katoomba and raising her two children there, the woman always had a nagging suspicion something was amiss.

“I have been dogged by numerous ongoing unexplained health issues for many years,” she wrote in her submission to the inquiry.

“I have felt that something in my house was poisoning me or contributing to my overall malaise.”

Last year, pressure from a Herald investigation forced the testing of the upper Blue Mountain’s drinking water supply. Elevated levels of PFAS were discovered, sparking the closure of two local dams.

Medlow Dam is one of two dams in the NSW Blue Mountains that has been taken offline after it was found to contain elevated levels of forever chemicals.Credit: Nick Moir

“I had an immediate sinking feeling and an awful sense of an ‘aha’ moment,” she recalled.

The PFAS levels in the tap water of tens of thousands of residents were found to be above incoming national drinking water guidelines, although a filtration plant has recently been installed to remove them from the water.

The woman had her blood tested for the chemicals despite the “prohibitive cost” of $500.

“I was hoping for reassurance, but instead the results proved reason for alarm,” she wrote.

One of the most notorious forever chemicals, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), was detected at 11.62 ng/ml.

The result was about double the average PFOS level seen in residents of other heavily contaminated communities near Defence bases.

Mean concentrations ranged from 4.9 to 6.6 ng/ml for exposed residents in the towns of Katherine in the Northern Territory, Oakey in Queensland and Williamtown in NSW, according to an Australian National University study.

Residents in three communities unaffected by the PFAS pollution had average levels of 2.5 to 3.3 ng/ml, the 2021 study found.

3M’s corporate scientist Dr John Butenhoff calculated a safe level of 1.05 ng/ml, according to court documents released after the company reached a historic $US10.3 billion ($16 billion) settlement over forever chemicals pollution in the United States.

The total sum of all PFAS in the woman’s blood was 20.98 ng/ml.

Retired 3M toxicologist Dr John Butenhoff in a scene from Stan documentary ‘Revealed: How To Poison A Planet’Credit: iKandy Films

The US National Academies of Sciences has warned there is potential for adverse effects with total levels over 2 ng/ml, especially in sensitive populations.

There is increased risk above 20 ng/ml, the organisation found.

Exposure to high levels of PFAS chemicals have been linked to adverse health effects including cancer, high cholesterol and immune system suppression by authorities in the US, Britain and the EU.

In 2023, the World Health Organisation declared one of the most notorious forever chemicals carcinogenic.

The woman is plagued with anxiety about health effects she and her adult children may or may not develop.

“It seems to me that the authorities have been negligent, careless or avoiding due diligence to a criminal degree,” she said.

“Their current focus appears to be about escaping any liability rather than actively seeking to deal with the problem.

“This response erodes public trust that will not easily be regained.”

She called for free blood-testing and an epidemiological study to identify any clusters of health issues in the upper Blue Mountains.

A NSW Health spokeswoman said most Australians were expected to have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood due to widespread use of the chemicals.

“At present, there is insufficient scientific evidence for medical practitioners to be able to tell a person whether their blood level of PFAS will make them sick now or later in life, or to link any current health problems to the PFAS levels found in their blood,” she said.

“Epidemiological studies would be very unlikely to be able to show any health outcomes that could be attributable to PFAS.”

The latter comment was hotly disputed by Dr Linda Birnbaum, head of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences from 2009 to 2019.

“That statement is completely untrue,” she said.

“Tens, if not hundreds, of epidemiology studies are showing associations with multiple adverse health effects of PFAS.”

Secret sampling

Amid burgeoning public concern about PFAS levels in drinking water last year, the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) embarked on a fact-finding mission.

It is the peak body representing providers of drinking water to more than 24 million customers across Australia and New Zealand.

Email correspondence tabled to parliament and seen by the Herald show the association contacted members en masse in August collecting information on their PFAS monitoring efforts across treated drinking water, source waters, effluent, biosolids and recycled water.

“All available data” from their monitoring programs was also requested.

“We respect those utilities who are concerned with risks associated with Freedom of Information requests and the confidentiality with which WSAA can obtain,” wrote WSAA manager Jason Mingo in an August 8 email.

“To this end, a Deed of Confidentiality will accompany the second request and outline the confidential and commercial-in-confidence nature of the data to be shared.

Mingo noted the initiative was important given “the recent experience of PFAS in drinking water within the media”, upcoming consultation on drinking water guidelines and the finalisation of a national environmental management plan.

In another email the following week, Mingo said that water providers should mark any data as “Confidential - Not Subject to FOI Disclosure”.

“Should you have any questions, please contact me directly,” he wrote. “A phone call will likely work best”.

Mingo’s emails have been tabled to state parliament as part of a call for papers by Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann.

Approaches to testing and disclosure have differed dramatically between states. NSW Health has led the country with an initiative that has seen all water providers test for PFAS and the publication of any detections above incoming drinking water guidelines.

In Queensland, data on contamination levels in Brisbane’s drinking water supply was unearthed last year by a Brisbane Times journalist using Freedom of Information.

Asked by the Herald whether the public had a right to know PFAS levels in drinking water, WSAA defended its approach.

Executive director Adam Lovell said the purpose of collecting the data was to develop a national picture of the impact of PFAS on treated drinking water, to help inform the association’s submission to a review of Australia’s drinking water guidelines.

Lovell stressed the purpose was not to withhold data from the public.

“The data is not ours; it comes from our members and it’s not right for us to be releasing their data,” he said. “Most of the data – or more recent data – is available on our members’ websites for their customers to access.

“In reading our email, it was perhaps clumsily worded and didn’t reflect this intent.”

The trove of documents tabled to parliament also reveal the WSAA conducted focus groups last September to test PFAS messaging on customers.

“The results demonstrate a journey of discovery, which begins with high levels of concern,” a summary report said.

“These concerns were somewhat abated by specific messages/facts about PFAS. Some messages we trialled were ineffective, and others were unexpectedly good.”

Messages found to “help people understand” included: “there are many water supplies around Australia with zero PFAS, and some with traces of PFAS” and “your water corporation is transparent about its testing and results can be found on its website”.

Messages that did not “help people understand” were “references and numbers on multiple other countries” and saying the industry took a “risk-based approach to testing”.

Lovell said the focus groups had tested and highlighted the value of being transparent with customers.

“We don’t have a specific number of how many have done so,” he said.

The focus group testing and sentiment analysis, costing $74,283, was conducted ahead of the release of new draft drinking water guidelines.

Lovell said it was an important tool to help water providers communicate clearly with customers on a complex issue, especially for small regional utilities with limited budgets.

“The priority of the water sector is to ensure drinking water is safe and to protect public health, and for our customers to understand what we do and how we do it.”

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.