Cleaning up the world starts in Adelaide

Australia and the world are wading in a rising tide of toxicity from 83,000 man-made chemicals that pose a growing risk to human and environmental health.

Some of the world’s leading clean-up scientists will meet in Adelaide next month to discuss challenges, opportunities, and technical and policy solutions to protect humans, water, soil, our food and the environment from contamination.

CleanUp 2011 will be held at the Hilton Adelaide hotel in Adelaide, South Australia, from 7-15 September 2011.

It incorporates the 6th International Workshop on Chemical Bioavailability in the Terrestrial Environment (7-9 September 2011) and the 4th International Contaminated Site Remediation Conference (11-15 September 2011).

Conference highlights include: Asian toxic e-waste spreads worldwide; heavy metals escaping from Australia’s landfills; despite the ban, DDT still showing up in our bodies; effects of contaminants on human health; new tools to beat heavy metal contamination; asbestos in residential areas; new contaminants: how big are the risks?; towards a national clean-up policy.

CleanUp 2011 convener Professor Ravi Naidu says: “Despite all attempts to control toxic contamination, there are signs that it is still growing worldwide. However, the good news is that we now have more tools and better systems for dealing with it, safely and cost-effectively. Many of these will feature at CleanUp 2011.”

For more information, please contact: Prof Ravi Naidu, Managing Director, CRC CARE, 08 8302 5041 or 0407 720 257; or Meredith Loxton, Acting Communications Manager, CRC CARE, 08 8302 3925 or 0429 779 228; or visit the websites: CleanUp 2011 or CRC CARE.