❓ A WA parliamentary question probes the Department of Health's formaldehyde guidelines following pollution concerns in Yarloop, questioning the shift from a stricter interim goal to a less stringent irritation level guideline and its potential source from Alcoa. The Minister defends the change as a move to a peer-reviewed, health-based guideline.
AnsweredQoN 3413Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the media statement from the Department of Environment (DoE) dated 1 December 2005 and the recent decision of the Police Service to take evasive action against pollution problems in Yarloop -
(1) Can the Minister confirm that the Department of Health (DoH) has previously proposed an ‘Interim Goal for the Protection of Vulnerable Individuals’ for formaldehyde of 10ug/m3 over three minutes?
(2) Can the Minister confirm that the highest level of formaldehyde concentration detected in the community monitoring samples exceeded the ‘Interim Goal for the Protection of Vulnerable Individuals’ proposed by the DoH, notwithstanding differences in averaging time?
(3) How, or from what source did the DoH derive the irritation level guideline referred to in the DoE media release of 1 December 2005?
(4) What is the irritation level guideline referred to in the 1 December 2005 media release from the DoE by the DoH Principal Medical Consultant?
(5) Can the Minister confirm that the irritation level guideline referred to in the DoE media release was taken from a Health Risk Assessment prepared by Alcoa?
(6) Is the Minister concerned that the DoH has abandoned a proposed ‘Interim Goal for the Protection of Vulnerable Individuals’ with respect to formaldehyde in favour of a much less stringent irritation level guideline devised by Alcoa?
(7) If no to (6), why not?
(1) Can the Minister confirm that the Department of Health (DoH) has previously proposed an ‘Interim Goal for the Protection of Vulnerable Individuals’ for formaldehyde of 10ug/m3 over three minutes?
(2) Can the Minister confirm that the highest level of formaldehyde concentration detected in the community monitoring samples exceeded the ‘Interim Goal for the Protection of Vulnerable Individuals’ proposed by the DoH, notwithstanding differences in averaging time?
(3) How, or from what source did the DoH derive the irritation level guideline referred to in the DoE media release of 1 December 2005?
(4) What is the irritation level guideline referred to in the 1 December 2005 media release from the DoE by the DoH Principal Medical Consultant?
(5) Can the Minister confirm that the irritation level guideline referred to in the DoE media release was taken from a Health Risk Assessment prepared by Alcoa?
(6) Is the Minister concerned that the DoH has abandoned a proposed ‘Interim Goal for the Protection of Vulnerable Individuals’ with respect to formaldehyde in favour of a much less stringent irritation level guideline devised by Alcoa?
(7) If no to (6), why not?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
30 May 2006
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Health
Response time
28 days
(2) Yes. The levels reported, however, are below the formal formaldehyde irritation guideline. (3) The irritation guideline was based upon reports reviewed by the World Health Organisation. (4) 100g/m 3 over 3 minutes, which is the level above which irritant effects of formaldehyde could be expected to occur. (5) No. The Department of Health reviewed international guidelines and also sought independent expert toxicological advice to determine the guideline. (6) No. (7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(3) The irritation guideline was based upon reports reviewed by the World Health Organisation. (4) 100g/m 3 over 3 minutes, which is the level above which irritant effects of formaldehyde could be expected to occur. (5) No. The Department of Health reviewed international guidelines and also sought independent expert toxicological advice to determine the guideline. (6) No. (7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(4) 100g/m 3 over 3 minutes, which is the level above which irritant effects of formaldehyde could be expected to occur. (5) No. The Department of Health reviewed international guidelines and also sought independent expert toxicological advice to determine the guideline. (6) No. (7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(5) No. The Department of Health reviewed international guidelines and also sought independent expert toxicological advice to determine the guideline. (6) No. (7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(6) No. (7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(3) The irritation guideline was based upon reports reviewed by the World Health Organisation. (4) 100g/m 3 over 3 minutes, which is the level above which irritant effects of formaldehyde could be expected to occur. (5) No. The Department of Health reviewed international guidelines and also sought independent expert toxicological advice to determine the guideline. (6) No. (7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(4) 100g/m 3 over 3 minutes, which is the level above which irritant effects of formaldehyde could be expected to occur. (5) No. The Department of Health reviewed international guidelines and also sought independent expert toxicological advice to determine the guideline. (6) No. (7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(5) No. The Department of Health reviewed international guidelines and also sought independent expert toxicological advice to determine the guideline. (6) No. (7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(6) No. (7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
(7) The Department of Health has replaced a conservative interim guideline with a peer reviewed health based guideline. The concentrations of formaldehyde that have been reported by the community do not exceed the irritation guideline and do not constitute a risk to health.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.