Talk: The effect of aerially deployed fire retardant on the ecosystem

Registration recommended but not essential

2:30 pm, 27 April St Andrews Uniting Church, corner of Vernon Street and Chisholm Street, Turramurra

In 2019, parts of South Turramurra turned pink due to fire retardants being dumped on houses. This prompted Shannon Kaiser to investigate the potential impact of these chemicals on the ecosystem for his PhD. He is also investigating the point where sensitive and resilient species first start being impacted by these chemicals and the effects of retardant on water quality.

Shannon has finished his lab work and will talk about his results so far. He will also discuss his preliminary and upcoming fieldwork.

Background

The world is getting hotter, which in turn generates hotter and more catastrophic bushfires. In order to control these fires, fire fighting agencies deploy chemicals onto and ahead of them via aircraft. Fire retardants are the main chemicals used to control these fires, with hundreds of millions of litres being used to control major fires. Despite their widespread usage in Australia, virtually no information exists on how these retardants could impact the aquatic ecosystem, as most of the focus is on protecting property from fire.