Australia is often sold as clean, green, and pure. But behind the postcard image lies a very different map — a toxic map. From lead in Port Pirie to red dust in Mount Isa, from acid rivers in Queenstown to industrial smoke in Gladstone, entire communities live with pollution every day.

The Toxic Map of Australia series explores peer-reviewed research, government data, and community reports to explain how different towns and cities are affected by environmental health risks. Each post focuses on a place, its pollutants, and the health problems linked to them — all in simple, straightforward language.

What you’ll find here isn’t alarmism. It’s evidence. Studies conducted by universities, health institutes, and government agencies show exactly what people are breathing, drinking, and touching in their everyday lives — and the impacts on children, families, and the environment around them.

Our goal: to make complex research accessible. To turn charts, numbers, and reports into clear stories that matter to ordinary Australians. Because pollution isn’t evenly spread — it’s concentrated in certain postcodes, often the very towns that power the nation.

This is Australia’s toxic map, explained.