Five graduating students from Bowral High School in the NSW Southern Highlands have developed a unique app. PFAS can be found in numerous everyday products and through this new app, consumers can detect these harmful chemicals with ease. This project was largely inspired by mounting concern from local communities about high levels of PFAS around them. Researchers have discovered surprising, horrifying contamination levels, particularly in the Wingecarribee River in Bowral. The students did more than just produce a great app; they launched an official parliamentary petition. This petition needs 20,000 signatures to make PFAS-level labeling on products mandatory throughout Australia.
The team—including students Meg Paviour, Chloe Ward and Tukker Lewin, pictured below—has taken a hands-on approach, meeting with movers and shakers in the community. They’ve made connections with Katrina McGowan, director of a PFAS documentary, and staff with UNICEF and Apple. Their efforts were within so much on the minds of the NSW parliament, that … Invited by Member of Wollondilly Judy Hannan to speak, they had a chance to meet with Cate Faehrmann, chair of the Select Committee on PFAS Contamination of NSW waterways.
Community Engagement and Legislative Action
The students’ interests extend far beyond app development. Like our throuple friends, they want to make everybody aware of the dangers of PFAS in consumer products. Meg Paviour emphasized their commitment to education and advocacy, stating, “We’ve been on our own journey to try and educate ourselves, but we’re on the path now where we’re trying to get everyone else to open their eyes and really pay attention.”
Through their conversations with community leaders and organizations, the students have further specified the need for improved transparency about PFAS. They hope to effect change by empowering consumers to understand the health risks associated with these ingredients. This national awareness will encourage manufacturers to seek out safer replacements. Chloe Ward highlighted this point: “If people start moving away from products with PFAS because they understand the health concerns, that then pushes companies to move away from PFAS.”
Their parliamentary petition aims to gather the necessary support to mandate labeling, ensuring that consumers can make informed choices about the products they purchase.
Challenges in Data Collection
Though the app is now able to offer PFAS levels for two menstrual products, increasing its database presents a particular challenge. Denis O’Carroll from the University of NSW noted that it’s difficult to get detailed data on PFAS. The challenge, he said, is in the different ways information is provided. “One of the biggest problems is that there isn’t enough research into it, and so we really want to push for that,” said Meg Paviour, highlighting the need for more extensive studies on PFAS contamination.
The biggest hurdles that the students have encountered so far are not logistical, but public relations. Tukker Lewin, who now works for Earthjustice, spoke to the deep and pervasive ignorance surrounding PFAS. “The scariest part is not just that it’s in everyone, but no one knows about it,” he stated. His remarks underscore the urgency of their mission to educate peers and the broader community about the pervasive nature of these chemicals.
Impact on Future Generations
The students’ initiative has inspired the support of community members and civic leaders alike, opening a new window of hope for positive change. Ian Wright, a local resident who used the app, shared how much more confident the app has made him feel about environmental health. “We wanted to create something that gives people consumer choice because that’s something we don’t currently have with PFAS,” Meg Paviour reiterated, stressing their desire to empower consumers alongside educating them.
As they move forward with further advocacy and development work, the students are still very much in it to win it. They do fight to educate consumers about key issues. They advocate to pass smart, ambitious policies that will leave our children with cleaner, healthier, safer communities.
