Session Lead: Tom Ihde (Morgan State University)
Co-Lead(s): Lee Blaney (UMBC), Greg Allen (EPA)
Session Format: Oral presentations
Session Description:
Our scientific understanding of the presence and risks of several toxic contaminants (e.g., PCBs) are now well established in the Chesapeake Bay region and elsewhere, but our understanding of contaminants of emerging concern lags far behind. Proper management of these contaminants requires scientific efforts to understand their occurrence, sources, environmental fate, efficacy of removal through wastewater treatment, environmental impacts, biomagnification potential and processing rates, biological effects, and the human health impacts of exposure. The ability to fully understand risk to natural resources from the “cocktail” of multiple contaminants that is often present in Chesapeake Bay waters is a substantial gap. Relatively few contaminants have well-established monitoring programs and consumption advisories, which may compromise programs such as the establishment of local fish consumption advisories. This symposium is focused on recent advances in contaminant science, new approaches, and remaining needs to improve our scientific understanding of toxic contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Topics that are especially well-suited for this session include new approaches and methods to quantify emerging contaminants.
Presenters:
Lee Blaney – Use of geospatial and co-occurrence analyses to identify sources of antibiotics, hormones, and UV filters in the Chesapeake Bay
Lee Blaney – Photodegradation of antibiotics in the presence of dissolved organic matter from poultry litter
Tom Ihde – Spatial Estimation of Contaminant Burden to Seafood Using a Biogeochemical Modeling Approach
Ke He – Anion-exchange membranes for passive sampling of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
Michelle Lorah – Biogeochemical Conditions and Microbial Populations Linked to Biodegradation of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Soil and Sediment