Impact of industrially based endocrine disrupting chemicals on aquatic biota. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a serious threat to aquatic organisms, livestock and humans. EDCs are present in water discharged from sewage treatment plants and in leachate from contaminated land. This project will determine the impact of EDCs from contaminated landfill on aquatic animals. It will also identify the chemicals responsible for biological impact by developing new bio-assays suitable for industr ....Impact of industrially based endocrine disrupting chemicals on aquatic biota. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a serious threat to aquatic organisms, livestock and humans. EDCs are present in water discharged from sewage treatment plants and in leachate from contaminated land. This project will determine the impact of EDCs from contaminated landfill on aquatic animals. It will also identify the chemicals responsible for biological impact by developing new bio-assays suitable for industrial, scientific and regulatory authority applications. This research has wide-ranging relevance and value to Australian State and Federal regulators and industries because of the ubiquity of sewage treatment plants and contaminated leachate from landfills.Read moreRead less
Use of effects-based bioassays to assess the endocrine disruption potential of advanced tertiary treated sewage effluent. Water reuse will become a major option to meet increasing water demand in Australia. However, the presence of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in wastewater has been identified as a potential impediment for this practice. This project will use a combination of effects-based biological methods based on different levels of biological organisation, and chemical analysis to ....Use of effects-based bioassays to assess the endocrine disruption potential of advanced tertiary treated sewage effluent. Water reuse will become a major option to meet increasing water demand in Australia. However, the presence of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in wastewater has been identified as a potential impediment for this practice. This project will use a combination of effects-based biological methods based on different levels of biological organisation, and chemical analysis to assess the efficacy of an advanced tertiary sewage treatment plant (ATSTP) to remove EDCs. The results will provide insights on 1. effects of mixtures of EDCs; 2. characterisation of risks of reuse of treated effluent; 3. optimisation of effluent treatment technologies to ensure industry competitiveness; and 4. developing sustainable plans to meet future water demand.Read moreRead less
Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaire ....Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaired but must be developed to identify the causes of decline. The intended outcomes are improved sustainable water resource management within and among states, and improved natural resource policy development.Read moreRead less
Gravity Current Driven Smoke Dispersion In a Stratified Ambient. Smoke from bushfires transported by gravity currents, and known to occur nationwide, caused the shutdown of businesses, education and events in Canberra in 2019. Recent scientific investigations have shown that the speed of propagation and concentration of smoke in these three-dimensional gravity currents have a long term ‘memory’ of their initial configuration. In this project, high-fidelity computational and experimental techniq ....Gravity Current Driven Smoke Dispersion In a Stratified Ambient. Smoke from bushfires transported by gravity currents, and known to occur nationwide, caused the shutdown of businesses, education and events in Canberra in 2019. Recent scientific investigations have shown that the speed of propagation and concentration of smoke in these three-dimensional gravity currents have a long term ‘memory’ of their initial configuration. In this project, high-fidelity computational and experimental techniques will be used to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms of gravity current entrainment and propagation. This knowledge will set a strong foundation to improve operational forecasts of smoke transport that will allow government agencies to better respond to the negative impact of these complicated flows.Read moreRead less
Quantitative metrics for determining aquifer ecosystem state. Clean groundwater comes from dirty surface water by way of biological purification. This project will develop quantitative ways to assess groundwater ecosystems to ensure the sustainable extraction of water and maintenance of these crucial ecosystems.
The impact of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in sewage contaminated waters on aquatic biota and identification of the causative compounds. The project's aims are to determine a) the impact of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) such as contraceptive pills and detergents in sewage effluent on aquatic biota; and b) which EDCs contribute to the impact. This project will provide the first comprehensive assessment of whether EDCs are causing effects in rivers downstream of sewage treatment p ....The impact of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in sewage contaminated waters on aquatic biota and identification of the causative compounds. The project's aims are to determine a) the impact of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) such as contraceptive pills and detergents in sewage effluent on aquatic biota; and b) which EDCs contribute to the impact. This project will provide the first comprehensive assessment of whether EDCs are causing effects in rivers downstream of sewage treatment plants and will identify the chemicals responsible. New biological tests for detecting endocrine disruption will also be developed for research and commercial use. The findings will assist regulatory bodies and water service providers to develop appropriate legislative, management and technological strategies to minimise EDC impacts on ecosystem health.Read moreRead less
Quantifying the effects of criteria air pollutants on child health - setting Australian air quality standards. The project is proposed and supported by the National Environment and Heritage Protection Council, who will be reviewing Australian air quality standards from 2005. The study aims to determine whether current air quality standards adequately protect the health of Australian school children, and to provide nationally-based information to inform any changes to the current standards. A cr ....Quantifying the effects of criteria air pollutants on child health - setting Australian air quality standards. The project is proposed and supported by the National Environment and Heritage Protection Council, who will be reviewing Australian air quality standards from 2005. The study aims to determine whether current air quality standards adequately protect the health of Australian school children, and to provide nationally-based information to inform any changes to the current standards. A cross-sectional study will examine cumulative effects; a nested panel study will quantify day-to-day effects of air pollution in sensitive children. Sampling will ensure national representation and generalisability of findings. This will be the first nationally-based study of the relationship between air quality and child health in Australia.Read moreRead less
Predicting the impacts of groundwater drawdown on groundwater ecosystems. This project aims to tackle a critical challenge of groundwater management – to understand and predict the impacts of declining groundwater levels. Over pumping and declining groundwater tables are a global problem, yet the effects on the ecosystems that exist within aquifers are poorly known. This project will create a world first evidence-based model of how lowering water tables affects the microbes, invertebrates (stygo ....Predicting the impacts of groundwater drawdown on groundwater ecosystems. This project aims to tackle a critical challenge of groundwater management – to understand and predict the impacts of declining groundwater levels. Over pumping and declining groundwater tables are a global problem, yet the effects on the ecosystems that exist within aquifers are poorly known. This project will create a world first evidence-based model of how lowering water tables affects the microbes, invertebrates (stygofauna) and ecological processes in groundwater ecosystems, and will demonstrate the consequences of such changes to groundwater quality and availability. This model will allow impacts to be reliably forecast and avoided or mitigated, vastly improving how major developments affecting groundwater are planned and implemented.Read moreRead less
Oyster biomonitor for endocrine disrupting chemicals. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can produce alarming detrimental impacts on the reproduction and survival of aquatic species, though little is presently known in terms of their effect and impacts on sensitive marine invertebrate species. We propose the development and validation of the first marine mollusc as a biomonitor for the detection and impact assessment of estrogenic contaminants in Australian estuarine and marine waterbodies. S ....Oyster biomonitor for endocrine disrupting chemicals. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can produce alarming detrimental impacts on the reproduction and survival of aquatic species, though little is presently known in terms of their effect and impacts on sensitive marine invertebrate species. We propose the development and validation of the first marine mollusc as a biomonitor for the detection and impact assessment of estrogenic contaminants in Australian estuarine and marine waterbodies. Such biomonitors will provide water management agencies with the capability to manage estrogenic effluent discharges and provide the oyster industry with a tool to prevent product contamination, ensuring the continued health and sustainability of our aquatic resources.Read moreRead less
Development of a novel Ecological Footprint for environmental reporting of companies. The aim of the project is to develop a novel Ecological Footprint concept to be applied at the company level to Sydney Water Corporation, an urban water services provider. The project will address major methodological limitations of the existing national EF concept by using regionalised input-output analysis. The outcome will be a sound, comprehensive, quantitative, reproducible, transparent and reliable EF met ....Development of a novel Ecological Footprint for environmental reporting of companies. The aim of the project is to develop a novel Ecological Footprint concept to be applied at the company level to Sydney Water Corporation, an urban water services provider. The project will address major methodological limitations of the existing national EF concept by using regionalised input-output analysis. The outcome will be a sound, comprehensive, quantitative, reproducible, transparent and reliable EF method. This new method will be an effective environmental reporting and communications tool for Sydney Water. Its value is greatly increased by the fact that it will be a generic approach to environmental reporting for any economic entity.Read moreRead less