"Transformation, fate and effect of emerging contaminants in treatment wetland systems"

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Clean water is essential in maintaining both human and environmental health, putting water treatment as a top societal priority. Growing health and environmental concerns regarding water contamination have made both pharmaceuticals and nanomaterials of particular interest. Pharmaceutical compounds such as painkillers, antibiotics and the synthetic estrogen used in birth control pills enter our sewer systems through bodily excretion and disposal. These compounds have been shown to pass through our current waste water treatment facilities, reaching various water bodies such as lakes and rivers. Low level exposure to these compounds represents a serious risk to human and environmental health. The nanomaterial industry offers exciting new technological and material possibilities, however in a similar manner to pharmaceuticals, with a growing industry environmental releases are also expected. The effect of nanomaterials on the environment is not yet well known. How well nanomaterials will be removed from water treatment facilities is also not well understood. As the nanomaterial industry is still growing there is an opportunity to study the removal of nanomaterials in waste water treatment facilities and understand any possible toxic effects if released to the environment before disposal and release of nanomaterials begins. The proposed research will investigate the use of treatment wetlands (TWs) (wetland systems constructed for the treatment of water) for the removal of pharmaceuticals and nanomaterials from water. The dominant removal mechanism of water treatment in TWs is the resident bacterial communities ability to use many different types of chemicals and compounds as a food source. Bacteria have been shown to use some pharmaceuticals as a food source. Focus will be given to quantifying the removal kinetics of pharmaceuticals and nanomaterials in TWs. The health and stability of the bacterial communities in the TWs, the health of the TWs treating the contaminants, and any toxic effects of the nanomaterials and pharamceuticals on soil and wetland microorganisms will be assessed.