Claims have emerged that a United States lawsuit centred on chemical contamination could have ramifications for communities such as Williamtown in NSW which is grappling with contaminations linked to the substance.

In the US, Chemical giant DuPont is being sued by 3,500 residents who claim they became sick after chemicals, C8 or PFOA used at the Dupont plant at Parkersburg West Virginia, contaminated their drinking water supply.

The action is underway in the US Federal Court in Ohio, and the first plaintiff is Carla Marie Bartlett who is alleging she developed kidney cancer after drinking the contaminated water.

Ned McWilliams, one of the attorneys acting on behalf of the residents in the US said the lawsuit was groundbreaking.

"This is on par with the type of litigation you see in the United States against the asbestos industry or against the tobacco industry," he said.

The chemical was used at the factory in the manufacturing of products like Teflon and was a processing aid used to produce other industrial and consumer products for decades by other companies.

Toxic chemical linked to Australian defence bases

It is also one of the toxic components of firefighting foam used for decades at defence bases around Australia, including the Williamtown RAAF Base.

Last month, residents surrounding the base were told the chemical had leaked into the groundwater and into fish species, prompting water and food bans.

Two other similar contamination cases linked to the firefighting foam are ongoing in Australia, including at the Oakey Defence Base in Queensland and the Country Fire Association training base in Fiskville, Victoria.

Mr McWilliams said the litigation had global ramifications.

"This is for better or worse, the United States is the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the world in terms of what we're learning, because this is where they were using the majority of this chemical and this is where they're disposing the majority of this chemical," he said.

"It will be here long after we are gone as human beings and given its bio-accumulative nature it likes to stick in the human body in the way it likes to travel in the environment."

Mr McWilliams said the chemical was a "global phenomenon" which would have ongoing affects, but there was now technology available to remove the chemical from drinking water.

"I'm certainly not an alarmist but what we know now based on our experience here in the Meadow Ohio region that extremely low levels of this chemical consumed over just a one year period is capable of causing cancer," he said.

Lawsuit 'flies in face' of what authorities told residents

Residents surrounding the RAAF Base in Williamtown and Fullerton Cove remain on edge as soil and groundwater tests continue to determine the extent of the contamination.

They have also called for blood tests to be undertaken to assess what impact it has had on human health.

Lindsay Clout, spokesman for the Fullerton Cove Action Group, said the lawsuit flew in the face of what health authorities had been telling residents.

"The information we've been gathering over the last few weeks from the United States was telling us this is a serious problem and our local people are telling us it is not a serious problem and there is little knowledge of the effects to the point where at the moment, NSW Health are telling us there is no value in having blood tests," he said.

But Mr Clout said he was encouraged by the action.

"It's a fork in the road really, there is the legal connection that ties responsibility down and provides compensation for people and then ... it validates a lot of the speculation that there are health risks," he said.

An expert panel investigating the leak ruled out blood tests, saying it would not produce useful information about that risk to an individual's health.

DuPont says it's working with regulators to address concerns

In 2004, Dupont reached a settlement with residents in a class action relating to exposure to PFOA, agreeing to fund medical monitoring and install water filtration systems.

It also agreed to set up an independent panel to study PFOA to figure out if any diseases were linked to the chemical.

In 2012, the panel determined a probable link to six health conditions including kidney and testicular cancer and thyroid disease.

This paved the way for the current litigation but Dupont has denied liability, saying Ms Bartlett's exposure to PFOA was insufficient to cause health problems.

"Regulators, including the US EPA (Environmental Protection Authority) have been learning along with us about the environmental and health impacts of PFOA," company spokesman Daniel Turner said.

"Independent studies over many years have shown PFOA to be present in low levels in people's blood.

"As a result of these findings we have worked with regulators, scientists, our employees and residents in our plant communities to assess and address the health concerns.

"Even before studies regarding potential health effects were complete, DuPont, along with other companies, voluntarily created a global stewardship program to reduce emissions and to phase out the manufacture and use of PFOA."