Book Chapter on Exposure Modeling and Monitoring of Human Pharmaceuticals in the Environment

USGS scientist using a long sampling device to collect a sample of liquid from a municipal wastewater holding pond in Colorado as part of the Source Characterization Study for Emerging Contaminants Project. The sample was analyzed for pharmaceuticals and other wastewater compounds. (click image for a larger version)

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Dana W. Kolpin has co-authored a chapter in "Human Pharmaceuticals: Assessing the Impacts on Aquatic Ecosystems." The chapter, entitled "Environmental Exposure Modeling and Monitoring of Human Pharmaceutical Concentrations in the Environment," provides information on:

• The use of predictive tools, such as exposure risk assessment models, for estimating the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment.
• The implementation of monitoring programs and strategies for pharmaceuticals in the environment.
• Methods to predict the environmental occurrence and concentrations of pharmaceuticals.
• Case studies on the comparison of model predictions with monitoring data.

Reference

• Versteeg, D.J., Alder, A.C., Cunningham, V.L., Kolpin, D.W., Murray-Smith, R., and Ternes, T., 2005, Environmental exposure modeling and monitoring of human pharmaceutical concentrations in the environment, in Williams, R.T., ed., Human pharmaceuticals - assessing the impacts on aquatic ecosystems: SETAC Press, p. 71-110.

More information

• Emerging Contaminants in the Environment, USGS investigations on the fate and occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants
• Similar and Related Publications
• Barber, L.B., Brown, G.K., and Zaugg, S.D., 2000, Potential endocrine disrupting organic chemicals in treated municipal wastewater and river water, Chapter 7, in Keith, L.H., Jones-Lepp, T.L., and Needham, L.L., eds., Analysis of Environmental Endocrine Disruptors, ACS Symposium Series 747: Washington, D.C., American Chemical Society, p. 97-123.
• Focazio, M.J., Kolpin, D.W., and Furlong, E.T., 2004, Occurrence of human pharmaceuticals in water resources in the United States—A review, in Kummerer, K., ed., Pharmaceuticals in the environment—Sources, fate, effects, and risks: Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, Springer-Verlag, p. 91-106.
• Meyer, M.T., 2004, Use and environmental occurrence of veterinary pharmaceuticals in the United States, in Kummerer, K., ed., Pharmaceuticals in the Environment: Sources, Fate, Effects, and Risks: Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, Springer-Verlag, p. 155-163.

Related Headlines

• Emerging Contaminants Targeted in a Reconnaissance of Ground Water and Untreated Drinking-Water Sources
• Biosolids, Animal Manure, and Earthworms: Is There a Connection?
• Household Chemicals and Drugs Found in Biosolids from Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Endocrine Disruption Found in Fish Exposed to Municipal Wastewater
• Pharmaceuticals Found in Soil Irrigated with Reclaimed Water
• Are Pharmaceuticals in Your Watershed? Understanding the Fate of Pharmaceuticals and Other Contaminants in Watersheds
• Glyphosate Found in Wastewater Discharged to Streams
• 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
• Glyphosate Herbicide Found in Many Midwestern Streams, Antibiotics Not Common
• National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals, Hormones and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams is Making an Impact
• "National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in Streams" Named as One of the Top 100 Science Stories of the Year
• What's in Our Wastewaters and Where Does it Go?

Back to Headlines page