NESP MaC Project 4.22 - Environmental concentrations of emerging contaminants in coastal stormwater

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Research Plan 2024 project "Environmental concentrations of emerging contaminants in coastal stormwater". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata.

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Australia’s Waste Policy Action Plan, Threat Abatement Plan for the impacts of marine debris and Australia’s One Health Master Action Plan all refer to the need for emerging pollutants to be incorporated into contaminant guidelines. A scoping study conducted by NESP MaC Hub in 2022 (Project 1.16) determined there is a clear and consistent need for data on environmental concentrations of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and an assessment of their impact on ecological communities.

To build an evidence-based understanding of the environmental concentrations of these contaminants and their ecological significance in Australian coastal waters, NESP MaC Project 2.4 was co-designed with end-users to determine environmental concentrations and potential ecological effects at selected wastewater treatment plant outfalls. In 2023, end-users stated a need for improving the temporal and spatial resolution of the current project.

Project 2.4 used outputs of oceanographic simulations and other information to identify a small set of locations for sampling that are representative of a range of receiving water contexts. Spatial surveys of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in water and sediments were undertaken during the dry period to limit the potential for stormwater inputs, and only one time period was sampled. An implicit assumption of the sampling design was that stormwater also contains CECs and could confound the assessment of contaminants in wastewater.

This project (4.22) is an extension of Project 2.4 and will determine the concentration of emerging pollutants in coastal stormwater, and in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, and do so on a seasonal basis. Sampling will be undertaken in two key locations: Gamay (NSW) and Glenelg (South Australia). These are the same locations sampled in Project 2.4 (with a focus on WWTPs) which will enable the concentrations of CECs to be compared at stormwater locations.

Outputs

• Updates to the National Outfall Database for 2022/23, including proposed new attributes for collection [dataset]

• Data from Gamay (Botany Bay) NSW including (1) contaminant levels in water and sediments (2) physico-chemical data; (3) microbial community and genetics composition of water and sediments [dataset]

• Timeseries (seasonal) CEC data from wastewater effluent at Glenelg beach area (SA) [dataset]

• [Possible] High-resolution temporal CEC data from a stormwater event in St Vincents Gulf [dataset]

• Final project report [written]

Identification info

Date (Creation): 2024-04-01

Resource provider

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), Australian Government

GPO Box 858

Canberra

Australian Capital Territory

2601

Australia

Principal investigator

University of Technology Sydney - Doblin, Martina (Project co-leader)

New South Wales

Australia

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Principal investigator

University of Technology Sydney - Seymour, Justin (Project co-leader)

New South Wales

Australia

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Collaborator

University of Technology Sydney - Bishop, David (Chemical analyses)

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Collaborator

University of Technology Sydney - Nguyen, Rose (Research assistant)

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Collaborator

The University of Adelaide - Gillanders, Bronwyn (Microplastic analyses)

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The University of Adelaide - Reis-Santos, Patrick (Microplastic analyses)

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Collaborator

Clean Ocean Foundation - Gemmill, John (National Outfall Database)

Collaborator

University of Tasmania - Rohmana, Qurratu (National Outfall Database)

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Purpose: To extent NESP Project 2.4 to determine contaminants of emerging concern in coastal stormwater and effluent on a seasonal basis.

Credit: National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub

Credit: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), Australian Government

Credit: In addition to NESP (DCCEEW) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.

Status: On going

Point of contact

University of Technology Sydney - Doblin, Martina

New South Wales

Australia

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Point of contact

University of Technology Sydney - Seymour, Justin

New South Wales

Australia

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Topic category

Biota

Extent

Temporal extent

Time period: 2024-03-01 2025-02-28

Maintenance and update frequency: As needed

Keywords (dataSource)

National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub

Keywords (Theme)

water quality
emerging contaminants
ecotoxicity
ocean outfalls

GCMD Earth Science keywords

AODN Geographic Extents Vocabulary

Resource constraints

Classification: Unclassified

Resource constraints

Use limitation: The data collections described in this record are funded by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) through the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub.