Residents can continue consuming seafood from the Tuggerah Lakes system after testing for PFAS revealed no additional precautions were required when consuming School Prawns, Eastern King Prawns or Whiting, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) said today.
Over the past 12 months Snowy Hydro Limited, as part of their PFAS investigations at Colongra Power Station, has been sampling and testing a range of popular edible fish and prawn species for PFAS, to determine if consumption of these species is a risk to the community.
The NSW PFAS Taskforce analysed the prawn and whiting results and determined that no precautionary dietary advice in relation to PFAS is required.
The prawn and whiting results are in line with 2018 testing that showed that the community could safely consume Sea Mullet, Yellowfin Bream, Dusky Flathead, Luderick and Silver Biddy caught from the Lakes.
EPA Manager Strategic Regulation David Gathercole said a rigorous PFAS testing regime had been completed and the results were good news for the community.
"The community can feel safe in the knowledge that there are no additional consumption restrictions on local seafood, fish or prawns from the Tuggerah Lakes."
The EPA is encouraging community members to note general advice from Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, which is to limit seafood consumption to 2-3 serves of seafood a week as part of a balanced diet.
