The major goal of the Emerging Contaminants Project is to provide information on these compounds for evaluation of their potential threat to environmental and human health. To accomplish this goal, the research activities of this project are to: (1) develop analytical methods to measure chemicals and microorganisms or their genes in a variety of matrices (e.g. water, sediment, waste) down to trace levels, (2) determine the environmental occurrence of these potential contaminants, (3) characterize the myriad of sources and source pathways that determine contaminant release to the environment, (4) define and quantify processes that determine their transport and fate through the environment, and (5) identify potential ecologic effects from exposure to these chemicals or microorganisms. Project research on emerging contaminants is being conducted within these five areas. The following links provide more detailed information.

1. Analytical Methods Development
2. Environmental Occurrence
3. Sources and Source Pathways
4. Transport and Fate
5. Ecological Effects

Emerging Contaminant Headlines

• Biosolids, Animal Manure, and Earthworms: Is There a Connection?
• Wastewater Indicators Shown to Degrade in Streams
• Endocrine Disruption Found in Fish Exposed to Municipal Wastewater
• Household Chemicals and Drugs Found in Biosolids from Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Pharmaceuticals Found in Soil Irrigated with Reclaimed Water
• Are Pharmaceuticals in Your Watershed? Understanding the Fate of Pharmaceuticals and Other Contaminants in Watersheds
• Book Chapter on Exposure Modeling and Monitoring of Human Pharmaceuticals in the Environment
• Does NDMA Biodegrade at Ground-Water Recharge Facilities?
• 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
• 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 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?

Meetings and Conferences

• USGS scientist Dr. Larry B. Barber to give keynote talk at CSIRO's sysposium "What's in Our Water: The significance of trace organic compounds", the 2nd Australian Symposium on Ecological Risk Assessment and Management of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Australasian Environment, Canberra, Australia, November 21-22, 2007

New Publications

Upcoming Publications

• Exposure assessment of veterinary medicines in aquatic systems: Metcalfe, C.D., Boxall, A., Fenner, K., Kolpin, D., Servos, M., Silberhorn, E., and Staveley, J., in Crane, M., Barrett, K., and Boxall, A., eds., Veterinary Medicines in the Environment, Pensacola, Fla., SETAC Press (IN PRESS).
• Fate of consumer product chemicals in the subsurface environment--25 Years of research on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA: Barber, L.B., in Hill, M.C., ed., Groundwater Quality 2007--Securing Groundwater Quality in Urban and Industrial Environments: International Association of Hydrological Sciences IAHS Redbook (IN PRESS).
• Methods of Analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory-Determination of human-health pharmaceuticals in filtered water by chemically modified styrene-divinylbenzene resin-based solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 5, chap. A9: Furlong, E.T., Werner, S.L., Anderson, B.D., and Cahill, J.D., U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods book 5, chap. A9 (IN PRESS).
• A national reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States--I. Groundwater: Barnes, K.K., Kolpin, D.W., Furlong, E.T., Zaugg, S.D., Meyer, M.T., and Barber, L.B., Science of the Total Environment (IN PRESS).
• A national reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the Unites States--II. Untreated drinking water sources: Focazio, M.J., Kolpin, D.W., Barnes, K.K., Furlong, E.T., Meyer, M.T., Zaugg, S.D., Barber, L.B., and Thurman, E.M., Science of the Total Environment, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.02.021 (IN PRESS).
• Subsurface fate and transport of 4-nonylphenol, 17Β-estradiol, and sulfamethoxazole: Barber, L.B., Meyer, M.T., LeBlanc, D.R., Kolpin, D.W., Bradley, P.M., Chapelle, F.H., and Rubio, F., in Hill, M.C., ed., Groundwater Quality 2007--Securing Groundwater Quality in Urban and Industrial Environments: International Association of Hydrological Sciences IAHS Redbook (IN PRESS).

Newly Published

• Reproductive disruption in fish downstream from an estrogenic wastewater effluent: Vajda, A.M., Barber, L.B., Gray, J.L., Lopez, E.M., Woodling, J.D., and Norris, D.O., 2008, Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/es0720661 (Advanced Web release).
• Trace analysis of trimethoprim and sulfonamide, macrolide, quinolone, and tetracycline antibiotics in chlorinated drinking water using liquid chromotagrphy electrospray tandem mass spectrometry: Ye, Z., Weinberg, H.S., and Meyer, M.T., 2007, Analytical Chemistry, v. 79, no. 3, p. 1135-1144, doi:10.1021/ac060972a.
• Trace analysis of antidepressant pharmaceuticals and their select degradates in aquatic matrixes by LC/ESI/MS/MS: Schultz, M.M., and Furlong, E.T., 2008, Analytical Chemistry, v. 80, no. 5, p. 1756-1762, doi:10.1021/ac702154e.
• Effects of ionic strength, temperature, and pH on degradation of selected antibiotics: Loftin, K.A., Adams, C.D., and Meyer, M.T., 2008, Journal of Environmental Quality, v. 37, no. 2, p. 378-386, doi:10.2134/jeq2007.0230.
• Potential for 4-n-nonylphenol biodegradation in stream sediments: Bradley, P.M., Barber, L.B., Kolpin, D.W., McMahon, P.B., and Chapelle, F.H., 2008, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, v. 27, p. 260-265, doi:10.1897/07-333.
• Bioaccumulation of pharmaceuticals and other anthropogenic waste indicators in earthworms from agricultural soil amended with biosolid or swine manure: Kinney, C.A., Furlong, E.T., Kolpin, D.W., Burkhardt, M.R., Zaugg, S.D., Werner, S.L., Bossio, J.P., and Benotti, M.J., 2008, Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/es702304c (Advanced Web release).
• Environmental presence and persistence of pharmaceuticals--An overview: Glassmeyer, S., Kolpin, D.W., Furlong, E.T., and Focazio, M.T., 2008 in Aga, D.S., ed., Fate of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment and in Water Treatment Systems, CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Books, p. 3-51, ISBN:9781420052329.
• Impairment of the reproductive potential of male fathead minnows by environmentally relevant exposures to 4-nonylphenol: Schoenfuss, H.L., Bartell, S.E., Bistodeau, T.B., Cediel, R.A., Grove, K.J., Zintek, L., Lee, K.E., and Barber, L.B., 2008, Aquatic Toxicology, v. 86, no. 1, p. 91-98, doi:10.1016/j.aquatox.2007.10.004.
• Environmental presence and persistence of pharmaceuticals--An overview: Glassmeyer, S., Kolpin, D.W., Furlong, E.T., and Focazio, M.T., 2008 in Aga, D.S., ed., Fate of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment and in Water Treatment Systems, CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Books, p. 3-51, ISBN:9781420052329.

Select Information on Emerging Contaminant Research Outside the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program

• Endocrine Disruptor Research, Contaminant Biology Program, USGS
• Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) as Environmental Pollutants, National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, Information for Assessing Risk (PEIAR) Project, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Antibiotic/Antimicrobial Resistance, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Materials of Emerging Regulatory Interest Team (MERIT), Emerging Contaminants Directorate, Department of Defense (The official DoD source for emerging contaminants information)
• EU-Project Poseidon, Assessment of Technologies for the Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Sewage and Drinking Water Facilities to Improve the Indirect Potable Water Reuse, European Union
• Environmental Risk Assessment of Veterinary Medicines in Sludge (ERAVMIS), International Office for Water

More Information

• Project Bibliography
• Emerging Contaminants Research Topic Bibliographies (Sub sets of the above bibliography)
• Analytical Methods Development
• Environmental Occurrence Studies
• Sources and Source Pathways Studies
• Transport and Fate Studies
• Ecological Effects Studies
• Abstracts from Selected Meetings/Conferences
• Project Photo Gallery
• Project contact: Dana Kolpin.