[Gobbledock]

CAMDEN CANCER AND THE PFOS NIGHTMARE.....JASON HALF’INCH ARE YOU READING THIS?

Camden Airport has been identified by the government as a site with potentially elevated levels of toxins suspected of being linked to numerous cancer cases in Australia and overseas.

Link below to the Camden Advertiser;

https://www.camdenadvertiser.com.au/stor...cer-toxin/

Camden airport linked to cancer toxin

• Carrie Fellner, Patrick Begley & Kayla Osborne
  
  

Local News

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 Camden Airport has been identified by the government as a site with potentially elevated levels of toxins. Picture: Robert Pearce

Camden Airport has been identified by the government as a site with potentially elevated levels of toxins suspected of being linked to numerous cancer cases in Australia and overseas.

A Fairfax Media investigation revealed the airport site is among 10 in Sydney, 25 in NSW and 90 across the nation that authorities are investigating for elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS).

At all but a handful of the sites, most residents have been continuing with everyday life, oblivious to the toxic threat that lurks nearby.

The chemicals pose a threat in Australia today, mainly because of their former use in a fire retardant used by the military, commercial airports, fire brigades and heavy industry for decades.

In many cases the run-off was flushed directly into the environment following training exercises, polluting the land, food chain and aquifers supplying drinking water.

The Fairfax Media investigation revealed at least 21 children at a high school in the US have battled cancer through their school years while growing up in a city whose water supply was contaminated with  PFASs.

Fairfax Media has previously revealed 50 cancer cases over a 15 year period near the Williamtown air base, an area that has also been contamined with PFAS chemicals from firefighting foam.

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) was notified by the Commonwealth Department of Instructure and Regional Development and Cities that it was investigating Camden Airport for historic use of PFAS during fire training activities.  

“The EPA is awaiting the results of the Commonwealth’s investigation, and has asked them for an update,” an EPA spokeswoman told The Advertiser.

“The EPA will inform the community about the results of the investigation when received from the [government].”

https://e.infogram.com/2ad50c1b-f6cd-4376-a41a-9b0a45156f14?src=embed#

An Airservices Australia spokesman said it was not investigating any contamination threats at Camden Airport.

“Airservices Australia has not provided an aviation rescue fire fighting service at Camden Airport since our establishment in 1995,” he said.

“It is important to note that the Commonwealth Government’s independent expert health panel for PFAS released a report in early May 2018 which reinforced the advice that there is no conclusive evidence that PFAS causes any specific illnesses, including cancer, in humans.”

However the EPA spokeswoman said while the government panel had concluded no current evidence suggested an increase in overall health risk related to PFAS exposure, it also said health effects could not be ruled out.
“Therefore NSW Government agencies are taking a precautionary approach to PFAS,” she said.

“Exposure to PFAS is most common through consumption of water or food, where water containing PFAS has been used. Detailed investigations take place at each site to determine any ways a local community may have come into contact with PFAS.”


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 Sources: EPA NSW, NSW Fire and Rescue, Country Fire Authority Victoria, Department of Defence, Air Services Australia, Tasmanian Fire Service, ACT Emergency Services Agency and Fairfax Media.

Seven military bases across NSW are being investigated, including the Holsworthy Army Barracks.

PFAS have been detected on and off the barracks, on Macarthur Drive at Holsworthy, but the Department of Defence claims exposure pathways are limited as ground and surface water use appears to be minimal in the area. 

In 2009, a global agreement was reached to ban one of the chemicals, PFOS, by listing it on the United Nation’s Stockholm Convention.

In the years since, Australia is one of the only countries that has not ratified the decision, which would cost an estimated $39 million. At least 171 countries have agreed to the phase-out, including the UK, Germany and China.

Meanwhile, the federal government is defending multiple class actions from towns across Australia where contamination has occurred.

The Department of Health maintains there is no consistent evidence the toxins cause “important” health effects, in contrast to the US EPA, which has concluded they are a human health hazard that - at high enough levels - can cause immune dysfunction, hormonal interference and certain types of cancer in humans.

The assistant environment minister Melissa Price has responsibility for the issue and was not available for comment on Sunday.

Man-made PFAS chemicals were a lucrative discovery for industry due to their unusual properties: they have been described as “virtually indestructible” in the environment and repel grease, oil and water.

They were manufactured by Fortune 500 company 3M for half-a-century, with the two best known of the family called perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

PFOS was the key ingredient in 3M’s popular fabric protector Scotchguard, and was used widely in firefighting foams, food packaging and metal plating. The company also manufactured vast quantities of PFOA for sale to Dupont to produce Teflon cookware.

By the time 3M made the surprise announcement it would be voluntarily exiting the PFAS business in 2000, PFOS had contaminated the blood of more than 95 per cent of the human population along with wildlife in remote corners of the globe.

Due to their long biological half-life, the chemicals take years to exit the body, but average levels in the blood of Australians plummeted about 56 per cent in the decade following the phase-out announcement.

No wonder that spineless, weak, testosterone deficient Bus Driver and Board Chairman Sir Angus Houstoblame bailed the sinking ASA ship. It makes you wonder how long it is until the pathetic government changes the laws to make sure those affected don’t get any compensation.

Tick Tock goes the litigation clock