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

清洁水对于维持人类和环境健康至关重要，因此将水处理作为一项首要的社会优先事项。对水污染日益增长的健康和环境关切使得药物和纳米材料都受到特别关注。止痛药、抗生素和避孕药中使用的合成雌激素等药物化合物通过人体排泄和处理进入我们的下水道系统。这些化合物已被证明通过我们目前的废水处理设施，到达各种水体，如湖泊和河流。低水平接触这些化合物对人类和环境健康构成严重风险。纳米材料行业提供了令人兴奋的新技术和新材料的可能性，然而，与制药类似，随着行业的增长，环境释放也有望实现。纳米材料对环境的影响尚不为人所知。纳米材料将在多大程度上从水处理设施中去除也没有得到很好的理解。由于纳米材料工业仍在发展，因此有机会研究废水处理设施中纳米材料的去除，并了解在纳米材料开始处置和释放之前释放到环境中的任何可能的毒性影响。拟议的研究将调查使用处理湿地（TWs）（为水处理而建造的湿地系统）从水中去除药物和纳米材料。TWs中水处理的主要去除机制是常驻细菌群落利用许多不同类型的化学物质和化合物作为食物来源的能力。细菌已被证明以某些药物为食物来源。重点将给予定量的药物和纳米材料的去除动力学在TWs。将评估TWs中细菌群落的健康和稳定性，TWs处理污染物的健康状况，以及纳米材料和药物对土壤和湿地微生物的任何毒性作用。

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.