Efforts to eliminate POPs to be investigated

An investigation into the effectiveness of international efforts to eliminate or restrict the use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) will begin when CSIRO starts a new atmospheric monitoring program.

CSIRO atmospheric scientist Dr Melita Keywood said POPs typically have the ability to: remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically and accumulate in the fatty tissues of humans and animals.

“Some POPs can be transported through atmospheric dispersion to other regions and continents, thousands of kilometres from where they were originally used,” Dr Keywood said.

Previous research conducted under the National Dioxins Program by CSIRO scientists Dr John Gras and Dr Mick Meyer established that levels of several chemicals - including polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and furans - were highest in the Australian atmosphere following major fires such as wild or controlled bushfires and farm plant burn-offs.

“With this background knowledge we are initiating a monitoring program at sites in north-west Tasmania, south-east Melbourne and Darwin,” Dr Keywood said. “Together with a review of the science, this will give us a baseline of information which we can use to identify trends as well as a wider network of permanent sites for detecting the presence of dioxins.

“New datasets resulting from this sampling will also be used to develop and test atmospheric chemical transport models.”