Darwin residents have been cautioned against eating seafood from two local creeks while testing is done to determine whether toxic chemicals that have leaked into the waterways from the neighbouring air force base are at dangerous levels.
RAAF base Darwin was the subject of a senate inquiry into the use of firefighting foams that previously contained perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), along with bases at Fiskville in Victoria and Williamtown in NSW.
The inquiry recommended that Defence fund blood tests for residents in the NSW investigation area on an annual basis to determine whether there have been any negative health outcomes due to their exposure to the chemicals, which don't break down in the environment and have been used since the 1950s in a range of common products such as textiles, metal plating, protective coating, cleaning products, pesticides and firefighting foams.
Preliminary surface water sampling detected evidence of PFCs in both creeks earlier this year, and on Wednesday the NT's Chief Health Officer, Dr Dinesh Arya, cautioned residents against eating any seafood from Rapid Creek or Ludmilla Creek while a second round of testing takes place, expected to be completed next month.
Signs cautioning against eating fish or shellfish, including crabs, will be posted along the creeks.
"At this stage we see the signs as purely precautionary, our task now is to develop an understanding of the effect these chemical compounds might have on the ecosystems of the creeks and any potential impacts on human health," he said.
"Until the sampling has been completed and the results are known, it would be sensible for people to avoid eating seafood from either Rapid Creek or Ludmilla Creek."
Dr Arya said other waterways associated with Darwin Airport, which adjoins the base, would also be tested.
The NT's warning comes after the federal government last week refused to caution residents against eating seafood caught in the creeks.
"Let's wait and see what the test comes up with and then we can make decisions based on that testing," Defence Materiel Minister Dan Tehan said.
Assistant Defence Minister Michael McCormack also said "there is no link whatsoever" between PFCs and adverse human health issues, in contradiction to advice from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which has classified one of the chemicals as possibly causing cancer.
