As analytical capabilities improve and toxicological understanding deepens, substances once considered benign are increasingly recognised as significant risks to human health and the environment. Emerging contaminants represent the frontier of this evolution — complex, frequently resistant to conventional remediation approaches, and subject to a regulatory environment still catching up with the science. Navigating this landscape requires specialists who are not just technically current, but actively advancing knowledge and practice in the field.

Western Environmental is at the forefront of emerging contaminant assessment, management, and remediation in Australia — spanning PFAS, mercury, NORM, and other contaminants of emerging concern. Our active R&D program and suite of proprietary environmental and waste treatment technologies ensure we are not merely applying established methodologies but developing and refining them to address challenges that existing frameworks were not designed to solve.

PFAS

PFAS have become one of the defining environmental challenges of the past decade. Predominantly associated with aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) on defence, aviation, and firefighting training sites, PFAS are also widely present in manufacturing, industrial, and landfill environments. Their persistence, mobility, and tendency to bioaccumulate make them among the most technically demanding contaminants to assess and manage — in a regulatory environment that continues to evolve as new toxicological data emerges.

Western Environmental has accumulated substantial national and international experience including some of Australia’s most complex and high-profile PFAS investigations — spanning defence, aviation, industrial, and urban environments. Our soil and water treatment capability encompasses the design, construction, and operation of treatment systems across all relevant media, delivering end-to-end technical services for the most demanding PFAS challenges.

Mercury & NORM

Mercury and NORM are among the most technically demanding contaminant classes in the emerging contaminants landscape, each carrying particular significance in the energy and resources sectors. Their  toxicity, persistence, and complex environmental transformation pathways, combine with their increasing prevalence in mineral deposits and energy reservoirs to present ever-increasing risk and liability.

Mercury and NORM presents distinct challenges in the energy and resource sectors where hydrocarbon and mineral extraction results in concentration and deposition in key process infrastructure as an ongoing operational concern. As aging energy infrastructure approaches end of life, Mercury and NORM have also become a critical consideration in asset retirement and decommissioning, with significant implications for waste classification, regulatory compliance, and remediation/waste management liability. We support proponents through the full arc of asset retirement, from initial characterisation through to compliant site closure.

Other Contaminants of Emerging Concern

Microplastics, dioxins and furans, and other persistent organic pollutants represent a rapidly evolving area of scientific and regulatory attention. Western Environmental monitors developments across the full emerging contaminant spectrum, ensuring clients are advised of evolving risks before they become compliance problems.

Environmental Technology & R&D

Our emerging contaminant capability is underpinned by an active R&D program and proprietary environmental technologies. HOTTPAD® thermal remediation is one of our flagship technologies with broad application to both emerging and conventional contaminants and in addition, our R&D program is developing novel technologies to safely treat and manage Mercury, NORM and other emerging contaminants.