The ANU came under attack at the Senate inquire public hearing in Katherine last week.

ANU has received at least $2 million from the Government to study the health risks of living with PFAS.

ANU is coordinating Phase II of the epidemiological project — Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): an epidemiological study—in Oakey, Queensland, Williamtown, New South Wales and Katherine.

Part of that project is the voluntary blood testing of Katherine residents.

The Research School of Population Health and external collaborators are conducting the PFAS Health Study under contract.

“We have started the study in all three communities of Williamtown NSW, Oakey Queensland and Katherine,” a ANU spokeswoman said today.

“The first phase of the study is focus groups to hear about community concerns about health from PFAS.

“We have completed these in Williamtown and Oakey and will be in Katherine shortly.

“We have conducted limited analyses of blood testing results to inform the design of our survey.

“We will inform the community about results once we have completed the survey. It could be misleading to inform people prior to this, as we don’t have important information about the water and foods people consumed or how long they lived in the different towns.

“We aim to have an initial full analysis completed shortly after the conclusion of the Voluntary Blood Testing program in April 2019.”

The spokeswoman said the ANU Study Team is conducting focus groups in Katherine between August 6–10.

Anyone who is interested in attending should contact us at pfas.health.study@anu.edu.au for more information and to book into a focus group.