Uncovering the government's message on chemical contamination

If you read these and you drop to the floor, cover your ears and rock back and forth, you are not alone. 

Media releases these days are riddled with jargon and gobbledygook and may even be using impenetrable language on purpose. 

Earlier this week the Federal Government dropped the health limits for chemicals which have already been found in Katherine’s water and bores surrounding the Tindal RAAF Base.

The Federal Department of Health then released a statement to the public explaining study results into the recommended tolerable daily intake of PFAS chemicals. 

A media release is communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something newsworthy to the public. 

To the untrained ear, scientific jargon can be confusing.  

“FSANZ’s assessment, which has been endorsed by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and reviewed by the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Committee (AHMAC), used a pharmacokinetic modelling approach and parameters most appropriate to the Australian context.,” the release stated. 

Katherine Times contacted senior lecturer at the University of Queensland Dr Christine Staatz to shed some light on “pharmacokinetic modelling”.

“Pharmacokinetics is the study of the relationship between a dose and the concentration in the body,” Dr Staatz said. 

“How it is metabolized, absorbed and eliminated by the body.”

Dr Staatz said the context of pharmacokinetics in the release is “a bit vague”. 

“They could be testing how long the chemicals are staying in the body and how the body is absorbing them,” she said.