A Griffith University-led study using a new tool to determine chemical exposure limits for marine animals found three out of four green turtle populations risk harmful effects from cadmium.
In collaboration with universities located in the Netherlands, Germany, and the University of Queensland, researchers have developed a virtual turtle model to simulate cadmium uptake and its effects over a turtles’ lifetime.
The model was used to reveal at what concentration cadmium in their primary food source, seagrass, is potentially toxic.
Researchers revealed that seventy two percent of the Great Barrier Reef’s green turtle populations were at risk from cadmium contamination.