Project Description
More than 350,000 chemicals and mixtures are currently registered for commercial use, ranging from pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, fire retardants, industrial compounds, and more. After use, many of these chemicals end up in the environment, whether from wastewater discharges, surface runoff or other point and non-point sources. Yet less than 400 chemicals are currently regulated in water. This project will apply a battery of novel and sensitive effect-based methods to identify priority classes of chemical contaminants in water based on their toxicity to living systems. This work will enable prioritisation of chemicals identified as the tip of toxic iceberg for further research and regulation, ensuring that chemicals from human activities do not adversely affect the environment.
Project Personnel and Beneficiaries
Academics, local councils, environmental regulators.
Outcomes to Date
The project has identified several types of compounds as posing an acute risk to the aquatic receiving environment to many sites in New Zealand. In particular, herbicides and animal hormones were particularly widespread throughout the monitored catchments. This will now enable a focus on those chemicals for extensive monitoring and further regulator action to minimise inappropriate use and/or refine agricultural practices.
Project Significance
Chemical pollution one of the key wicked problems of the 21st century. This project will develop and apply a process to identify the major classes of toxic chemicals in New Zealand rivers. This will help identify the most toxic chemicals from human activity in the aquatic environment, and allow regulators and researchers to focus on those chemicals for further regulatory action and research.