Mounting epidemiological evidence supports "negative associations between PFAS exposure and an array of human health conditions", a University of Newcastle paper says.
The paper, to be released on Wednesday, examined the "perils" of PFAS chemicals on health.
The paper acknowledged that it was "challenging to definitively link PFAS exposure to impacts on human health".
However, it found that "the balance of evidence" supports the potential for PFAS exposure to lead to adverse health outcomes.
Professor Brett Nixon, the paper's author, said it was "very difficult to place causality" on PFAS and health problems due to various rates of exposure and chemicals.
"The ramifications are enormous, given how pervasive the chemicals are in the environment and how difficult it is to remediate contaminated water and soil," he said.
"It's been estimated that somewhere in excess of 90 per cent of the population around the globe has measurable levels of PFAS within their blood. The scale of it is mind-boggling."
He said some of the most definitive evidence came from a study of 69,000 people exposed to PFAS through contaminated drinking water in West Virginia.
This study revealed probable links between the PFOA chemical and six diseases: kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
The paper added that the "most consistently reported metabolic consequence of PFAS exposure is dyslipidemia", which increases the chance of clogged arteries, heart attack and stroke.
Professor Stuart Khan, who was not involved in the paper, said "we're almost always dealing with a balance of evidence regarding PFAS toxicity".
"The problem with epidemiological evidence is that it is very difficult to distinguish the impacts of one group of chemicals from many other substances in the environment."
Professor Khan added that this balance also involved "many other risk-factors" for disease such as lifestyle and diet.
"As a rule, it's not possible to conduct experiments on humans," he said.
Animals such as rats, mice and guinea pigs could be tested, but "there is a lot of uncertainty in this process".
The paper - to be published in the Reproduction, Fertility and Development journal - said all paths of human exposure to PFAS had not been identified.
But it was thought that "dietary intake from food packaging" and environmental contamination were key exposure pathways.
"The US EPA has declared PFOA a likely carcinogen, but no one seems prepared to make a definitive link," Professor Nixon said.
The Australian health department released a "guidance statement" in February on PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals".
It noted PFAS exposure had been associated with numerous health conditions.
However, it said that "these differences have generally been small and are unlikely to be important to health outcomes".
It said studies linking PFAS to testicular and kidney cancer "remain conflicting".
"Associations have only been observed in high exposure groups such as workers in international factories where PFOA is produced."
Professor Ravi Naidu said class actions in the US by people exposed to the chemicals at work found there was "sufficient evidence" that they could "potentially affect human health".
The research of Professor Naidu, of University of Newcastle, has found PFAS in vegetables in Newcastle and Sydney.
Residents of Williamtown were involved in a class action settlement over the chemicals in 2020.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last year that his biggest concern about PFAS exposure was not financial, but "the health of people affected".
