Australian Politics Forum - Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals

John_Taverner

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Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals
Jun 15^th, 2024 at 4:11pm

https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/australian-drinking-water-found-to-cont...

I'll let this brew for a while then I'll give my own take on the subject.

"Experts say Australians should use water filters after drinking water in parts of the country was found to contain dangerous cancer-causing chemicals.

The contaminants - perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) - have been found in tap water in every state and territory, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported today.
Australian water contains contaminants that US authorities warn are likely to be carcinogenic, with "no safe level of exposure"

Of course there are always experts and Channel 9 proclaimed experts.

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UnSubRocky

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Re: Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals
Reply #1 - Jun 15^th, 2024 at 4:51pm

I buy bottled water to use for drinking and cooking purposes. I shower in the tap water. But I won't use the hot water to use for washing up purposes. The hot water system seems to be giving off a rusty smell with a bit of a chemical feeling about it. It has been years, and I have never been able to flush it out of the system. The hot water system needs replacing.

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At this stage...

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MeisterEckhart Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 11736 Gender:	Re: Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals Reply #2 - Jun 15^th, 2024 at 5:24pm The movie 'Dark Waters' (2005) dramatises this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkkuil-U6qQ It follows the lawyer, Rob Bilott's research and case against Du Pont in producing PFOA chemicals.
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lee

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Re: Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals
Reply #3 - Jun 15^th, 2024 at 6:12pm

John_Taverner wrote on Jun 15^th, 2024 at 4:11pm:

The contaminants - perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) - have been found in tap water in every state and territory, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported today.
Australian water contains contaminants that US authorities warn are likely to be carcinogenic, with "no safe level of exposure"

Ah the old Linear No Threshold (LNT) schtick. Are there any studies, not epidemiological studies. that confirm?

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John_Taverner

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Re: Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals
Reply #4 - Jun 19^th, 2024 at 6:13pm

lee wrote on Jun 15^th, 2024 at 6:12pm:

John_Taverner wrote on Jun 15^th, 2024 at 4:11pm:

The contaminants - perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) - have been found in tap water in every state and territory, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported today.
Australian water contains contaminants that US authorities warn are likely to be carcinogenic, with "no safe level of exposure"

Ah the old Linear No Threshold (LNT) schtick. Are there any studies, not epidemiological studies. that confirm?

You're actually on the right track.

The key here is the expert. Is she a Doctor of Medicine? No. How about a Doctor of Toxicology? No, Not that either. A Doctor of Environmental Science? - Not even close.

A Doctor of Law? - Yes. Now you're talking. She claims that nobody is monitoring PFOS levels in Australian waters because nobody cares. Incorrect. There are a number of studies. She claims that US Standards are more stringent. Well that's correct. The US EPA insists on limits well below those that can be detected in a lot of cases.

What drives the USEPA? Science? Nup, Litigation. Incidentally most US states ignore USEPA limits. They set their own rationally derived limits.

In most studies, PFAS is present almost exclusively around Capital Cities. I know about the Brisbane River case, because I was involved in mitigating the Brisbane Airport spill in 2015.

By the way UnsubRocky, your rusty tap water is probably rust. Do you have old steel water pipes? You can't taste PFAS. In fact if you ever had microwave popcorn, you probably ingested some PFAS back then. If you used Scotchgard in the 90s, same deal.

No drinking water sampled in the Fitzroy region showed any detectable PFAS. If you really want a link to a technical paper, let me know.

The Brisbane river shows seasonal, mainly PFOS levels (to be specific)just above detection limits. I probably wouldn't eat fish caught in Moreton Bay. Otherwise nothing to worry about (well, I would qualify that). As for Qantas, well I prefer not to comment in public, but their corporate ethics concern me enough never to fly with them again.

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« Last Edit: Jun 19^th, 2024 at 6:26pm by John_Taverner »

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John_Taverner Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 2212 Gender:	Re: Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals Reply #5 - Jun 19^th, 2024 at 6:25pm - and be very careful when choosing water filters. Don't fall for the marketing hype.
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Bobby.

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Re: Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals
Reply #6 - Jun 19^th, 2024 at 6:27pm

John_Taverner wrote on Jun 15^th, 2024 at 4:11pm:

https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/australian-drinking-water-found-to-cont...

I'll let this brew for a while then I'll give my own take on the subject.

"Experts say Australians should use water filters after drinking water in parts of the country was found to contain dangerous cancer-causing chemicals.

The contaminants - perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) - have been found in tap water in every state and territory, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported today.
Australian water contains contaminants that US authorities warn are likely to be carcinogenic, with "no safe level of exposure"

Of course there are always experts and Channel 9 proclaimed experts.

Are there any filters that can remove PFOS and PFOA ?

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John_Taverner

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Re: Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals
Reply #7 - Jun 19^th, 2024 at 7:17pm

Bobby. wrote on Jun 19^th, 2024 at 6:27pm:

John_Taverner wrote on Jun 15^th, 2024 at 4:11pm:

https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/australian-drinking-water-found-to-cont...

I'll let this brew for a while then I'll give my own take on the subject.

"Experts say Australians should use water filters after drinking water in parts of the country was found to contain dangerous cancer-causing chemicals.

The contaminants - perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) - have been found in tap water in every state and territory, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported today.
Australian water contains contaminants that US authorities warn are likely to be carcinogenic, with "no safe level of exposure"

Of course there are always experts and Channel 9 proclaimed experts.

Are there any filters that can remove PFOS and PFOA ?

Filters? No. Reverse Osmosis can work, but unless you know how to use and maintain a RO system, you can end up with some strange foul smelling water. You'll also end up with only about 30-40% of the water and the rest goes down the drain. You'll be very lucky to find a salesman that actually understands the pitfalls of the system.

I'd guess that you have already ingested PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) PFAS is the generic term that includes PFOS and PFOA. About 84 of the more common substances are regularly tested, but there is anywhere from thousands to millions of substances that fall into this category depending on the source of the information.

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« Last Edit: Jun 19^th, 2024 at 7:28pm by John_Taverner »

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Bobby.

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Re: Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals
Reply #8 - Jun 19^th, 2024 at 7:19pm

John_Taverner wrote on Jun 19^th, 2024 at 7:17pm:

Filters? No. Reverse Osmosis can work, but unless you know how to use and maintain a RO system, you can end up with some strange foul smelling water. You'll also end up with about 30-40% of the water and the rest goes down the drain. You'll be very lucky to find a salesman that actually understands the ins and outs.

Looks like there's nothing we can do about it.

Our water is poisoned.

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John_Taverner

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Re: Drinking water found to contain 'toxic chemicals
Reply #9 - Jun 19^th, 2024 at 7:32pm

Bobby. wrote on Jun 19^th, 2024 at 7:19pm:

John_Taverner wrote on Jun 19^th, 2024 at 7:17pm:

Filters? No. Reverse Osmosis can work, but unless you know how to use and maintain a RO system, you can end up with some strange foul smelling water. You'll also end up with about 30-40% of the water and the rest goes down the drain. You'll be very lucky to find a salesman that actually understands the ins and outs.

Looks like there's nothing we can do about it.

Our water is poisoned.

"All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison." Paracelsus (b.1493 d.1541), but still true today.

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