Toxic Substances Hydrology Program
Research Projects - Emerging Contaminants
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The first step in the road to understanding the fate of a contaminant is determining if
contamination is actually taking place.
Emerging Chemical ContaminantsAn important component of emerging contaminant research is to determine the environmental occurrence by answering the fundamental questions: What compounds enter the environment? How often and at what levels do they occur? In what mixtures do they occur? These questions are addressed by field reconnaissance studies at national, regional, and local scales.
Emerging Microbial ContaminantsThere is no question that bacterial pathogens, viruses, and protozoa, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria can enter the environment. The source of these contaminants is generally fecal contamination through release of human and animal wastes to the environment. However, little is known about the actual occurrence of specific microbial pathogens in the environment, or their relation to traditional microbiological water quality criteria. This project investigates the occurrence of selected bacterial pathogens in water at the national and watershed scales, determines their potential for virulence and antibiotic resistance by examining the occurrence of genes for these traits, and relates findings to microbial water quality criteria and to chemical measures of water quality, including the occurrence of emerging chemical contaminants. Related Headlines
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