National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals, Hormones and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams is Making an Impact

The USGS's National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals in U.S. Streams is making an impact in the scientific and regulatory communities.

• An editorial entitled "Making an Impact," published in the March 1, 2003 issue of Environmental Science and Technology (ES&T), highlights the recent USGS paper "Pharmaceuticals, Hormones and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams, 1999-2000: A National Reconnaissance." The editor of ES&T, Jerald Schnoor, said the paper " ... may prove to be the most cited paper in the history of ES&T."
• The paper was named as a "Fast Breaking Paper" in the field of ecology and environment for February 2003 by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). "Fast Breaking Papers" have the highest percentage of increase in citations in ISI's Essential Science Indicators within a two month period.
• The paper was also named as one of the Top 100 Science Stories of the Year by Discover Magazine.

The paper documented the presence of low levels of many organic wastewater compounds, including prescription and non-prescription drugs, hormones, and other wastewater compounds, in a network of 139 targeted streams across the United States.

More information

• Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams: USGS Fact Sheet FS-027-02
• Pharmaceuticals, hormones and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000--A national reconnaissance: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 36, no. 6, p. 1202-1211.
• The companion USGS Data report - Water-quality data for pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: USGS Open-File Report 02-94.
• Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Investigation.
• Research on the Environmental Occurrence of Emerging Contaminants

Related Headlines

• Biosolids, Animal Manure, and Earthworms: Is There a Connection?
• Household Chemicals and Drugs Found in Biosolids from Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Wastewater Indicators Shown to Degrade in Streams
• Endocrine Disruption Found in Fish Exposed to Municipal Wastewater
• Pharmaceuticals Found in Soil Irrigated with Reclaimed Water
• Book Chapter on Exposure Modeling and Monitoring of Human Pharmaceuticals in the Environment
• Tracing Wastewater - Using Unique Compounds to Identify Sources of Contamination
• USGS Scientists Contribute to New Book on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment
• USGS Scientists Develop New Method to Measure Pharmaceuticals in Water
• Developing Methods to Measure New Contaminants in Aquatic Environments
• Veterinary Medicines in the Environment
• Glyphosate Herbicide Found in Many Midwestern Streams, Antibiotics Not Common
• "National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in Streams" Named as One of the Top 100 Science Stories of the Year

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