Queensland Ambient PFAS Monitoring Program Report

The per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) monitoring program was designed to better understand the concentrations of these chemical compounds in the environment. The Queensland Government undertook a state-wide sampling program between May 2019 and March 2020, with water samples collected every two months at 55 sites covering the coast from the Wet Tropics to South East Queensland.

Although PFAS are chemical compounds considered to be widely distributed throughout the environment, the results from this 12-month ambient monitoring program for water, sediment and biota indicate this may not be the case in Queensland.

In summary, the Queensland Ambient PFAS Monitoring Program (PDF, 3 MB) results showed:

• The reported concentrations of PFAS were generally very low or not detected at sampling locations adjacent to conservation, agriculture and forestry/grazing land use types.
• The highest concentrations and types of PFAS were found at sites surrounded by urban and industrial land in South East Queensland. This is consistent with findings in other parts of Australia and the world.
• Of the 55 ambient sites monitored, no PFAS were reported in water samples collected from eight sites, and only extremely low concentrations of PFOS were reported at 21 sites.
• Targeted biota sampling occurred in the South East Queensland area to establish a baseline to assess the risk to wildlife. Biota sampling included aquatic organisms such as fish, worms and mangrove crabs. PFAS were measured in the majority of biota samples collected as part of this project. This is consistent with biota sampled in other urban and industrial areas around Australia.

The data will be used as a baseline for future Queensland investigations and to inform further regulatory decisions and management of contaminated areas.

To request data from the ambient PFAS monitoring program email wqi@qld.gov.au.

PFAS data portal

The PFAS data portal is an interactive tool that presents the ambient PFAS data collected as part of the monitoring program.

It includes four categories of data:

• ambient surface water
• ambient biota
• ambient sediment
• ambient data provided by stakeholders (surface water, biota, and sediment).

Requests to add or download data from the portal can be made by emailing wqi@qld.gov.au.