Curbing Emerging Contaminants

Problem

Without regulations to control the persistence of chemicals and metabolites in surface water or the ability of wastewater treatment plants to remove them, how can these contaminants of emerging concern be reduced?

Pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and personal care products pose serious risks to aquatic life, such as the smallmouth bass, in Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River.

Findings

Researchers engaged everyday users of these products to participate in the scientific discovery process and identify potential courses of action by giving them test kits with instructions on how to use them. These citizen scientists were assigned a coordinate within the Susquehanna River watershed to sample surface water.

Impact

By doing this research with citizen scientists, the researchers are taking a grassroots approach to raise awareness of the potentially dangerous compounds in everyday products that can make their way to waterways. As informed consumers, participants learned how they can make a difference in water quality in their local rivers.

Related Research Area: Environmental Resilience

Research Credit

Team

• Heather Gall, Lara Fowler, Bryan Swistock, and Ray Bryant

Participating Departments

• Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Partners

• Penn State Survey Research Center and the USDA Agricultural Research Service

Federal and State Appropriations

• USDA NIFA Hatch Multistate Project PEN04726, Accession #1020769

Online Tool

• Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDC) Footprint Calculator

Emerging Discoveries

Citizen scientists to help researchers gauge Susquehanna water quality

December 11, 2017

Using a network of up to 60 citizen scientists, a team of Penn State researchers will assess the levels of endocrine-disrupting compounds in the Susquehanna River next year, and in turn empower those volunteers to become part of the solution to water-quality problems related to emerging contaminants.