Learnings from Victor Kabay

On Friday 19 January, Victor Kabay from the University of Melbourne joined us for the first webinar of the year. After a monumentally successful 2023 webinar series, we wanted to start the year off with a bang, and we certainly did. Victor set the bar high for the year, drawing in more than 300 registrants for his presentation on the health risks of contaminated land.

Victor’s presentation was highly detailed and thought provoking. Some of the main takeaways that he listed were:

• The data presented can help consultants prioritise the materials they can keep in their back pocket for future HHRAs (Human Health Risks Assessments).
• It also provides robust data on the types of contaminating activities that pose the highest risk.
• The data supports the need for guideline values for 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, C>16-34 and C>34-40 petroleum hydrocarbons, and trans-1,2-dichloroethane.
• Guideline values for TCE (and other chlorinated VOCs) that are more fit-for purpose.
• The findings of this work complement the extensive literature on emerging contaminants and makes the point that some well and truly “emerged” and widespread contaminants (known for decades) are not currently being supported by adequate research and policy.

We would like to thank Victor and UniMelb for taking part and providing such an interesting presentation. We would also like to thank all of you for attending, we hope to see you again soon at another HydroTerra webinar. If you would like to watch the full webinar on our YouTube channel, click the link below.