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The use of chemical indicators to source human, animal and bird pollution of Fraser Island lakes and streams
Conference paper   Open access   Peer reviewed

The use of chemical indicators to source human, animal and bird pollution of Fraser Island lakes and streams

Neil W Tindale, Daryle Sullivan and Peter R Brooks
Proceedings of the 2nd Queensland Coastal Conference
Queensland Coastal Conference: Waves of Change, 2nd (Gold Coast, Australia, 13-May-2009–15-May-2009)
SEQ Catchments Ltd.
2009
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Abstract

Environmental Science and Management Fraser Island pollution chemical indicators
The presentation covers the use of a chemical indicator technique to investigate whether tourists are polluting the fresh water ecosystems on the relatively pristine Fraser Island. The objectives to the development and use of the technique included: Seeking to quantify and distinguish faecal pollution inputs from human and other, natural animal sources. Identify lakes and creeks on Fraser Island that are impacted by human visitation. The focus of this paper is on the methodology and use of the chemical indicator technique. Samples of surface waters and lake floor sediments were collected from Fraser Island and analysed by GC-MS. The analytical technique is based on using faecal sterols as indicators of faecal pollution. The results showed that the sterols were very low to low in the lake sediments and undetectable in the surface water samples. Ratios of sterols indicated that water fowl are the l i kely predominate faecal source. Human input appeared to be negligible compared to natural sources.

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