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Queensland Government
WetlandInfo   —   Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

Toxicants – Pressures

Toxicants – Pressures

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Flow chart showing the major elements associated with toxicant management

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Sources of toxicants to wetlands:

  • Pesticide and heavy metal toxicants enter wetlands from diffuse catchment via local overland surface flow, in floodwaters or directly from urban, mining and agricultural land use or point sources.
  • Oil toxicants generally enter wetlands from cars, roads, parking lots, washdown facilities, other urban sources or boat engines.
  • Toxicant spills are rare but can dump large amounts of toxic material at a time into a wetland.
  • Toxicants can enter wetlands via direct application of insecticides (e.g. mosquito control) or herbicides (e.g. aquatic weed control).

Last updated: 22 March 2013

This page should be cited as:

Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Queensland (2013) Toxicants – Pressures, WetlandInfo website, accessed 14 April 2025. Available at: https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/management/pressures/lacustrine-palustrine-threats/toxicants/pressure.html