It has been described as "the new asbestos", but a former Royal Australia Air Force mechanic cannot get an answer from the Department of Veterans Affairs on whether it will pay for a medical test to see if he has a problem.

Key points: Former RAAF mechanic claims he had no response from Department of Veterans Affairs

Former RAAF mechanic claims he had no response from Department of Veterans Affairs Firefighting foam described as "the new asbestos" at a Senate inquiry

Firefighting foam described as "the new asbestos" at a Senate inquiry Report recommended blood testing for all RAAF personnel and nearby residents

A Senate report into the use of toxic firefighting foams on RAAF bases has recommended blood testing for workers and people living nearby.

Former RAAF mechanic Paul van Bruggen, 43, contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to ask if they would pay for blood tests for perfluorooctane sulfonate, known as PFOS.

"I've tried to get an answer from DVA to see if we can get tested for these chemicals from the foam and I can't get a response back from them," he said.

"We're not there anymore, and we're not the general public so they don't care... I can't say I'm surprised, but it's a horrid way to be treated."

The Department has been contacted for comment.

The chairman of an inquiry into the use of the firefighting chemical, Senator Alex Gallacher, previously told the ABC: "A defence person advised people at [RAAF Base] Williamtown that this could well be the new asbestos; that is on transcript."

'Concerning' levels of PFOS found in Darwin creeks

Last week the NT Environment Protection Authority found concerning levels of PFOS in Rapid and Ludmilla Creeks, which run off RAAF Base Darwin.

While there are no settled guidelines for acceptable PFOS levels in the NT, the amount found was in excess of standards set interstate and overseas.

Mr van Bruggen said he was the youngest person to ever legally join the RAAF - he signed up for an apprenticeship aged 15 in 1988 and served for six years at bases in Victoria, Queensland, and the Northern Territory.

"We used to have to work on the pumps and the tanks and the plumbing and what not for the foam system on the trucks, and inevitably you'd get basically covered in the stuff," he said.

"After a short amount of time you'd start to get a rash from it and if you got it on your clothes, when you washed your clothes, your clothes would fall apart.

"It sounds like it was a lot nastier than what we were told at time."

Mr van Bruggen said he was far from the only person who was exposed to the foam.

"Including the firefighters we had, the air force firies and other mechanics we had, thousands. You'd have to be looking at a couple of thousand people at least," he said.

During a visit to Darwin in April, Assistant Defence Minister Michael McCormack dismissed suggestions that foams including PFOS could be harmful to human health.

"I can assure people that there is no link, no link whatsoever, between [PFOS] and adverse human health effects," he said.