NSW Health resisted government advice to strengthen protections for children exposed to lead in Broken Hill, despite internal documents acknowledging that far lower blood lead levels than those recognised in current guidelines can harm developing brains.
Newly released documents reveal the Department of Premier and Cabinet urged a whole-of-government response to consider lowering the blood lead investigation threshold – the level at which a child’s blood test result should trigger a health response – from 5 micrograms of lead per decilitre (5μg/dL) to 3.5μg/dL.
This would bring the guidelines in line with international standards and would mean far more children would qualify for investigation and support. Based on New South Wales government data, 67% of children in Broken Hill and more than 90% of Aboriginal children would have blood lead levels exceeding 3.5μg/dL.
But NSW Health pushed back against the advice, the documents show, saying it could not “recommend a change in level for one area in isolation” and changing thresholds may have “unintended privacy consequences”.
This was despite its own officials acknowledging in the documents that “there is no safe level of lead”. Even 3.5μg/dL may be associated with “reduced IQ and attention span, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, behavioural problems, impaired growth and hearing loss”, a draft briefing note prepared for the chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, in 2023 said.
The documents were obtained under a parliamentary order by the NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, who described the situation as a “national disgrace”. She said the government did not have adequate resources to help children captured by the current guidelines, which she believed was why NSW Health had resisted lowering the threshold for the current screening program that captures children aged five and under.
More than two years after the advice was given to the government, the guidelines remain the same.
“The level of funding available for dealing with the lead contamination issue in Broken Hill is just pathetic,” Faehrmann said. “Imagine how much government money would be poured into fixing this if these kids were in Sydney.”
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
Since 2016, NSW Health has used 5μg/dL as the point at which a child’s blood lead level should trigger investigation and support. But the internal documents show the system does not have enough capacity to respond to all children at that level, and that in practice 5μg/dL is being treated as “safe”.
The government asked the Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer to undertake a rapid review of sources of lead in Broken Hill, but Faehrmann said “the last thing Broken Hill needs is another report and more delays” when the facts were well known.
The documents show concerns about lead exposure in Broken Hill were longstanding. The lead expert and then chief environmental scientist at Victoria’s environmental protection agency (EPA), Prof Mark Taylor, wrote in 2024 that health authorities had spent “decades” revisiting the same issues rather than acting on “enormous” expertise and evidence.
His email to the chief executive of the NSW EPA said Broken Hill’s lead contamination was not naturally occurring and that lead-rich dust from mining operations, not old paint, was the primary cause of children’s exposure.
In September, Guardian Australia revealed that Taylor was the author of a report on lead in children’s blood which the NSW EPA buried to placate mining companies.
The report, completed in 2019, stated the level of lead in the blood of 49% of children under five and 76% of Indigenous children in the town remained elevated above 5μg/dL and mining operations were the “leading source” of environmental exposure in the western NSW town.
However, a 2020 EPA “Health Check” of the Broken Hill Environmental Lead Program (BHELP) warned more children would need monitoring if Australia followed other international jurisdictions such as Germany in lowering the threshold to 3.5μg/dL.
Track changes made by NSW Health to a draft briefing note for the premier in 2023 show the department proposed removing a recommendation to consider reducing the threshold to 3.5μg/dL, which would “capture more children in the management program, but is in line with other international jurisdictions and accepted evidence that there is no safe level of lead”.
When Health Protection NSW’s Jeff Standen saw this line had been kept in the briefing, he wrote in an email to Chant: “I see that DPC [Department of Premier and Cabinet] ignored the feedback that we provided and went ahead with the level of 3.5. They indicate this is the level that other international bodies have but I am not aware of this.”
Standen also wrote to the Department of Premier and Cabinet that “we have some concerns around the recommendation in the briefing to the Premier to reduce the blood lead level (BLL) threshold to 3.5μg/dL – this is contrary to the advice given by NSW Health.
“Whilst a general reduction in geometric mean BLL is the aim, setting a specific limit that is not in line with current guidance and regulatory frameworks is problematic and needs consideration as there may be other unintended privacy consequences.”
Notes from an expert advisory panel meeting in May 2024 on lead in Broken Hill stated that “concerns were raised about limited capacity and resources to respond to all children who are over the National Health and Medical Research Council guideline of 5μg/dL”.
The same panel met again in August. Meeting notes state “it is concerning that NHMRC levels are continued to be treated as ‘safe’ … NHMRC levels should not be used to define whether a response is delivered, and also not as a measure of ‘success’”.
The same panel meeting also raised concerns about the “sporadic grant funding approach to what is a long-term problem”.
In NSW budget estimates on Tuesday 2 December, NSW Health’s executive director of health protection, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, told Faehrmann that the department wrote to the NHMRC in October asking it to consider updating the evidence around blood lead levels.
A spokesperson for the NHMRC told Guardian Australia the decision to lower the threshold in the US was “based on blood lead distribution data in US children ages 1-5 years, and is not a health-based standard or a toxicity threshold”.
“NHMRC does not automatically adopt guidelines from other countries,” the spokesperson said, adding Australia’s context needed to be considered.
“NHMRC will consider the timing and scope of any review in consultation with states and territories.”
A NSW Health spokesperson said the department remained committed to offering free blood lead level screening to all children under 5 years of age and was working to strengthen the prevention program by incorporating components into antenatal, postnatal and home visiting programs.
A NSW government spokesperson said it “recognises that ongoing action is needed in Broken Hill to manage lead levels in the community, and particularly in children”.
Since 2015, it had funded blood testing for the community in addition to more than $20m for the Broken Hill Environmental Lead Program, which had funded ongoing home remediation, community dust monitoring and education to address childhood lead exposure in Broken Hill, the spokesperson said.
To address lead pollution in Broken Hill, Faehrmann said the government must urgently provide funding for people to upgrade their houses to protect them from dust pollution, and for health support.
“It also needs to mandate strict lead pollution standards for mines. If they can’t mine without poisoning the local kids then they need to clean up their act, or people need to be relocated to where it’s safe to live.
“Also, where are all the royalties and other riches from the mining that has occurred in Broken Hill for more than 170 years?”
If you have something to share about this story, you can contact the Guardian Australia news teams using one of the following methods.
Secure Messaging in the Guardian app
The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.
If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select ‘Secure Messaging’.
- If you don't need strong security you can write to a Guardian Australia journalist using the details here. Click on a person to see their details.
- For end to end encrypted email you can create a free Protonmail account and email gaus.contact@protonmail.com.
Messaging apps
You can also use the encrypted messaging apps Signal or WhatsApp to message us at +61 490 758 250.
SecureDrop and other secure methods
If you can safely use the tor network without being observed or monitored you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.
Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.
