AUSTRALIA: Koalas grazing near Portland Aluminium smelter suffering bone, tooth defects from fluoride exposure

News from around the world
Post Reply
pfpcnews
Posts: 997
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:50 am

AUSTRALIA: Koalas grazing near Portland Aluminium smelter suffering bone, tooth defects from fluoride exposure

Post by pfpcnews »

Koalas grazing near Portland Aluminium smelter suffering bone, tooth defects from fluoride exposure

ABC News - June 8, 2022

By Sian Johnson

Fluoride emissions from an aluminium smelter in Victoria's south-west are causing koalas grazing nearby to develop an irreversible and sometimes fatal condition, a study has found.

The University of Melbourne study was commissioned by the American company in 2020 after dozens of koalas had to be euthanased due to suspected fluoride poisoning, which causes tooth and jaw deformities and weakened bones.

Alcoa has not released the full findings of the study but acknowledged both fluoride deposits and a high population density in blue gums around the plant — on land owned by the company — were contributing to the koalas' poor health.

It said its assessments "found that the deposition of fluoride in trees within close proximity to the smelter does contribute to poor health in some koalas".

As a result, the company said it would gradually harvest the blue gum plantation with significant fluoride deposits and plant more trees further away.

"To reduce the risks fluoride can pose to koalas, Portland Aluminium will gradually harvest its main blue gum plantation and other areas of known koala habitat within close proximity to the smelter over the next two years," an Alcoa spokesperson said.

It also said the fluoride emissions emanating from the plant were within EPA guidelines and did not pose a threat to human health.

The company has developed a plan with Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and has committed to planting 18 hectares of eucalypt species further away from the smelter to serve as alternative habitat.

Fluorosis previously found in kangaroos at the site

The issue of fluorosis affecting wildlife around the aluminium smelter at Portland is not new.

Similar findings resulted from a six-year study focused on kangaroos and wallabies that started in 2008.

University of Melbourne wildlife researcher Jasmin Hufschmid was involved in both the older study and the recent one focused on koalas.

She did not comment directly on the findings of the recently-completed koala study but said fluoride emissions from the aluminium plant posed the most serious risk to animals within a 1-kilometre radius.

SOURCE:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-09/ ... /101126398
Post Reply