Some Ohakea residents affected by water contamination from toxic foam are being told to reduce how often they eat specific foods grown on their properties.
The warning comes amid uncertainty about the long-term implications from water runoff and leaching after the use of firefighting foam at the Ohakea air force base…
A Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman said food supplied from these areas, including milk and meat, was safe to consume.
But some of the families living on affected properties had been told to reduce how often they eat specific types of food from their own properties, to reduce their long-term consumption of the chemicals.
Milk from dairy farms around Ohakea were tested in 2017 and MPI found very low levels of the chemicals.
‘To put it in context – an 82-kilogram adult would have to drink, per day, every day, over their entire lifetime, more than 15 litres of milk containing PFOS or more than 100 litres of milk containing PFOA at the laboratory’s reporting limits, to exceed health-based guidance values.’ ”
Read the full article by Kirsty Lawrence.