Contaminants of Emerging Concern in the Environment: Understanding Risk and Mitigation Strategies

Many of the products we use in our everyday lives contain chemicals that, while deemed safe for human use, are known to disrupt the endocrine systems of aquatic species such as fish and amphibians. As these contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are increasingly found in surface and groundwater, there is a pressing need to understand both their environmental and human health impacts. Our research group seeks to understand the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in surface and groundwater and the risks that the presence of these chemicals poses to aquatic and human health. Additionally, we seek to identify effective ways for reducing the presence of these contaminants in the environment, ranging from the assessment of engineering technologies to treat these contaminants that are present in domestic wastewater streams to the engagement of citizen scientist networks to keep these contaminants out of our wastewater in the first place. While the concerns regarding the presence of CECs in the environment should not be underestimated, we seek to directly connect observed data, modeling tools, and outreach programs to focus on empowerment rather than fear. We are currently leveraging existing field and watershed-scale CEC data to develop interactive decision-making tools to provide results that the general public and land managers can use to become more informed and engaged environmental stewards.