The global population is 7.2 billion and growing. Around the world, nearly 250 babies are born every minute. This equates to 131.4 million births per year. Despite this global ‘baby boom’, the total fertility rate (TFR) – the number of babies born per woman – has declined by about half over the past 5 decades.
Controlling the quality of irrigation water is important for crop and plant growth. Water quality can be monitored in situ using an ion-selective electrode (ISE) array with suitable data processing algorithms.
A monitoring tool that can prescreen aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for the contaminants perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) would be incredibly useful to industry. Ideally, the tool could be used onsite or in nonspecialised laboratories, and have high sensitivity, specificity and selectivity.
Elevated nitrate concentration is a multifaceted problem. In surface water and groundwater, it can cause eutrophication. When present in drinking water, nitrate can threaten human health – for example, it can cause methemoglobinemia in infants. Thus, finding a way to remove nitrates from water is important for human and environmental health.
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are toxic synthetic chemicals known to have potential health and environmental impacts. PFAS are highly resistant to degradation and are very mobile. They are also ubiquitous because of their use in common industrial products such as firefighting foams and nonstick coatings.
In the past, the assessment and management of groundwater contamination has been driven by contaminant concentrations. However, concentration data alone are sometimes not sufficient to fully understand the behaviour or effect of a plume over time.
Since the 1970s, legislation and regulations have been progressively developed and more stringently implemented in Australia to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of land and water contamination. Little research on the consequences of these actions and the extent of the impact on remediation efforts exists in Australia.
CRC CARE is developing a National Remediation Framework (NRF) for remediating and managing contaminated sites. The NRF is designed to harmonise guidance and best practice in the remediation and management of contaminated sites in Australia, and builds on existing best practice and regulation.
In 2012, CRC CARE identified and prioritised contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) for contaminated site assessment, management and remediation.
