Australian government budget reports or official announcements

Australia to Cut PFAS Levels in Drinking Water Under New Guidelines, Costing Billions

Oct 21, 2024, 04:00 PM

Australia is set to implement stringent guidelines to reduce the levels of PFAS chemicals, often referred to as 'forever chemicals,' in drinking water. The National Health and Medical Research Council has released draft guidelines that will enforce significant cuts to four types of these chemicals, which have been linked to cancer. The new regulations aim to align Australia's standards closer to those of other countries, such as the United States, though the nation still lags behind in some areas. The clean-up process is expected to be extensive and costly, potentially amounting to billions of dollars. This initiative revises a 2018 fact sheet on safe PFAS consumption levels over a lifetime.