How do these chemicals get into streams and rivers?
Although there are a wide variety of transport mechanisms for these
compounds to reach streams, two likely pathways include: 1) direct discharge
of treated wastewater to a stream, and 2) movement of wastewaters from
animal agriculture either through direct wastewater releases or from
land application of waste. Although analyses to relate specific types
of sources to the occurrence of these compounds are still underway,
the results are suggestive that there are residential, industrial, and
agricultural sources for the chemicals detected in this study.
