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How To Poison a Planet

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Eileen McLeod and her daughter Jade Sturgeon. Jade and her sister have both had brain cancer, which is potentially linked to the PFAS contamination of Wreck Bay.

‘People are getting sick’: Urgent push to test for forever chemicals in food

A Senate inquiry has recommended limiting exposure to dangerous PFAS chemicals in Australian food and drinking water.

  • Ben Cubby

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Water scientist Professor Ian Wright in a swamp about 20 metres from houses in Medlow Bath taking samples last year. He has returned to the site for further testing of the PFAS in water and sediment.

Blue Mountains residents in PFAS zone face quiz on backyard vegies and chooks

The NSW environmental watchdog will door-knock homes in Medlow Bath after testing revealed high levels of toxic forever chemicals in creek sediment and water.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
A major sewage spill along the Albert River has been labelled the Gold Coast’s worst environmental disaster.

Dead eels and gasping fish: Gold Coast council told to fix sewer issues

The latest order follows the discovery of a corroded pipe that leaked 450 million litres of sewage into the Albert River.

  • Julius Dennis
Dr Jacinta Martin co-authored a paper on the effects of PFAS on mice fertility.

PFAS pollution lowers sperm count in mice, alters their embryos: study

The chemical exposure given to laboratory mice mimicked the real-world profile of PFAS-contaminated water from Williamtown.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Cheng Zhang (right) is leading the UQ team working to extract “forever chemicals” from the environment.

Magnets put to work to clean up ‘forever chemicals’

The carcinogenic chemicals are everywhere – in the air, water and soil – but a Queensland team is developing technology to remove them from the environment.

  • William Davis
Water scientist Ian Wright takes a water sample near Lake Medlow in the Blue Mountains.

Sydney Water ‘did not adequately test’ before claiming city’s catchment had no toxic hotspots

A parliamentary inquiry established after our reporting urges regular water and blood tests where elevated levels of the toxic chemicals have been found.

  • Max Maddison
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Master fly casting instructor Peter Morse practising his casting in Wentworth Falls Lake on Monday. He does not catch or eat fish from the lake.

More than 20 new ‘forever chemicals’ found in Sydney tap water

The study comes as NSW Health accepted the recommendations of an expert panel that concluded that PFAS is low risk to human health, putting the state at odds with emerging international best practice.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
A a “once in a generation” under river infrastructure project is forcing officials to dump millions of litres of raw sewage and stormwater directly into the Brisbane River.

The big stink: This is how much raw sewage is being dumped into the Brisbane River

Complications with a “once in a generation” under-river infrastructure project are forcing officials to dump millions of litres of raw sewage and stormwater directly into the Brisbane River.

  • Josh Bavas
Sally Rewell, manager of the Malabar wastewater treatment plant (right), and Kate Miles, head of system planning and land acquisition at Sydney Water.

The grime balls were a symptom of an ailing sewerage network. The cure could be to drink recycled water

Sydney Water is proposing to add purified recycled drinking water – effluent that has been highly treated back to drinking standard – to Sydney’s tap water supply.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Professor Ian Wright and PhD candidate Katherine Warwick by the Wingecarribee River near Berrima sewage outfall, a known hotspot for platypus.

Revealed: The icky reason behind build-up of forever chemicals in Sydney catchment

NSW has the highest proportion of residents with cancer-causing PFAS chemicals - news which coincides with revelations that wastewater treatment plants are allowed to release treated effluent into rivers and creeks in the Warragamba catchment.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons

Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/topic/how-to-poison-a-planet-6gkd