Water S.O.S Tasmania
ARCHIVED MEDIA CLIP - SUNDAY TASMANIAN
FROM : THE SUNDAY TASMANIAN
LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY :
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,21559216-3462,00.html
Shock at level of river toxin

SIMON BEVILACQUA - April 15, 2007

A TASMANIAN river which supplies drinking water to a popular tourist town contained chemical levels five times above national guidelines.


Traces of herbicides were found during the summer tourist season in the George River, which is the water supply for St Helens on the East Coast.

The poison, 2,4-D, was found at levels five times higher than Australian drinking water guideline limits.

Another herbicide, MCPA, was detected in the George, and in the Duck River near Smithton on the North-West Coast.

MCPA was recorded in the George over a number of days.

Australian and World Health Organisation standards list no acceptable level of MCPA in drinking water.

St Helens general practitioner Alison Bleaney says she is shocked by the lack of action on the findings.

"These chemicals were detected near the intake pipe for St Helens water supply," Dr Bleaney said. "These are toxic chemicals with real health concerns, particularly for pregnant women."

The Department of Primary Industries and Water detected the chemicals in the George River during a flood-monitoring event over four days in mid-February.

Last month, Water Minister David Llewellyn revealed 2,4-D was detected for two hours in the George -- at times as high as 0.53 parts per billion.

This is five times the Australian drinking water guideline limit of 0.1 ppb.

The Australian standards say if a guideline is breached steps should be taken to find the source, stop further contamination and consult health authorities.

"Exceeding the guideline value indicates that undesirable contamination of drinking water has occurred," the Australian guidelines state.

"It does not necessarily indicate a hazard to public health."

Pregnant women are advised to avoid 2,4-D. Cases of soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease have been linked with the herbicides such as MCPA but results are inconsistent.

DPIW testing in January also detected atrazine and hexazinone in north-western rivers.
FROM : SUNDAY TASMANIAN
LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY :
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,21559216-3462,00.html