Dust as a vector for persistent organic pollutants in Volume 7 of ABEEC

Category: General Notices

  02 Feb 2021

A new publication in the Australasian Bulletin of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Chemistry (ABEEC) found that dust samples, collected in the DustWatch monitoring project, hold important clues about the movement of persistant organic pollutants around Australia. DustWatch is a national citizen scientist program that sees volunteers collect dust from strategic locations around Australia. The program was establish to maintain a dust collection service after many Bureau of Meteorology weather stations went automatic. The study, headed by Dr Julia Jasonsmith an Environmental Chemist and Director at Murrang Earth Sciences, used samples from a site near Mildura, Victoria, found families of POPs in the samples, which varied in concentration and through time.

Samples were collected from a location near Mildura for the study.

The study also highlighted the potential of DustWatch samples to identify long-term trends of contaminant transport around Australia. There are 4,300 samples in the DustWatch collection dating back to 1990, meaning that there are historical trends waiting to be uncovered!  

Read more about it, and find our other ABEEC articles on our publications page.

General Notices

Gina Mondschein and Jessica Kneebone win the 2024 Peter Teasdale Memorial Award

Gina Mondschein and Jessica Kneebone have won the Peter Teasdale Memorial Award

Lorenzo Ricolfi wins the 2024 SETAC AU Postgraduate Research Publication Award

Learn more about Lorenzo's winning publication

Kate Fergusson and Gabriel Melhado win the 2023 Peter Teasdale Memorial Award

Kate Fergusson and Gabriel Melhado have won the Peter Teasdale Memorial Award

Gwilym Price wins the 2023 SETAC AU Postgraduate Research Publication Award

Learn more about Gwil's winning publication

Inaugural SETAC-AU Photo Competition

Cast your vote now for the inaugural 2023 SETAC-AU photo competition!

Sharmin Akter wins the 2022 Peter Teasdale Memorial Award

Sharmin Akter has won the Peter Teasdale Memorial Award

Drew Szabo wins the 2022 SETAC AU Postgraduate Research Publication Award

Learn more about Drew's winning publication

Rafiquel Islam wins the 2021 SETAC AU Postgraduate Research Publication Award

Learn more about Rafiquel's winning publication

Hung Tan wins the inaugural Peter Teasdale Memorial Award

Hung Tan has won the Peter Teasdale Memorial Award

Dust as a vector for persistent organic pollutants in Volume 7 of ABEEC

Dust may be an important vector for persistent organic pollutants in Australia.

Ban on toxic mercury looms in sugar cane farming, but Australia still has a way to go

Australia recently banned the mercury-based pesticide Shirtan, but is yet to ratify the Minamata Convention which aims to protect human and environmental health from mercury emissions. Dr …

Global Horizon Scanning

SETAC’s Global Horizon Scanning Project brought together a multidisciplinary team of researchers, government agencies and businesses to identify priority research questions for Australasia.