The chemicals, known as PFAS, have also been found in Katherine’s tap water which has subsequently been cleared the NT Health Department as safe.

The National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University will examine the potential health effects resulting from PFAS exposure through an epidemiological study.

“This will contribute to further investigating the potential effects of these substances on human health,” a health department spokeswoman said.

The government was responding to a Perth university study on PFAS which has found a link between the chemicals and an increase in birth weights for babies.

Lead researcher from Edith Cowan University,  Anna Callan, said the results were significant because having either a lower or higher birth weight than appropriate had been associated with an increased chance of developing chronic diseases later in life.

“For example, higher birth weights have been linked with an increased risk of childhood obesity,” Dr Callan said.

“This is particularly important because many of these chemicals can persist in the environment and in our bodies for decades after their use has been stopped.”

The research was carried out by ECU’s School of Medical and Health Sciences and School of Science.

The NT Health Department and the Department of Defence directed questions on the new findings to the Federal Department of Health.

A spokeswoman said Katherine residents should continue to follow the NT Government’s drinking water advice.

“The evidence produced by existing epidemiological studies on the human health effects of PFAS exposure, including that of Callan et al., 2016, continues to be inconsistent,” the spokeswoman said.

She said further research was required.

Dangerous chemicals leached from the RAAF Base at Tindal between 1998 and 2004 to reach Katherine’s water supply.

A group of chemicals called PFAS were used in firefighting foam at Tindal which has now contaminated groundwater.

The Department of Defence’s further testing of local groundwater is expected to be known in a year.

An increasing number of Katherine residents are now receiving the results of their independent tests taken of their water supplies following concerns it could be contaminated.

Writing in the Katherine Times today, Michael Bolton of Collins Road said his test for PFAS had come back at 4.56, many times above the 0.5 micrograms per litre interim maximum.

NT’s chief health officer Dr Hugh Heggie said Katherine’s water is safe to drink.