Forecasting the Transport and Fate of Pharmaceuticals in Coarse Grained Aquifers
type: CreativeWork
description: The occurrence of trace quantities of pharmaceutically active compounds in both surface water and groundwater has been widely reported. Although these compounds are detected at low concentrations in the environment, information on the fate and transport of pharmaceuticals in natural systems is still limited. The long-term effects on organisms from exposure are not known. The recognition that human and veterinary pharmaceuticals present in waste streams persist in aquatic environments has raised human and ecosystem heath concerns. The over arching goals of this research are to describe and quantify key processes influencing the transport and fate of a selected group of pharmaceutical compounds in sediment and groundwater systems, and to evaluated the sorption and reaction process likely to impact specific compound behavior in coarse grained hydrogeologic settings. This research is a key component of an ongoing international effort to examine the fate and transport of a select group of pharmaceuticals identified as being persistent in groundwater. Laboratory and field evaluations are being conducted in a variety of groundwater settings: the Berlin sand and gravel aquifer, a Canadian sand rich aquifer, and a highly conductive fluvial sand, gravel, cobble and boulder aquifer of the Missoula Valley, in Montana, USA (the focus of this work). Six compounds commonly reported in groundwater were selected for evaluation: carbamazepine, caffeine, gemfibrozil, ibuprofen, naproxen and sulfamethoxazole. Within the course of the project additional compounds were added to the analyses: nicotine, cotinine, ecstasy, methylated ecstasy, and cocaine. Batch sorption experiments and column tests were used to compute aquifer material attenuation properties. River and groundwater samples were geochemically characterized using approaches developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Batch and column experiments provided retardation and degradation values for the Missoula s…
abstract: The occurrence of trace quantities of pharmaceutically active compounds in both surface water and groundwater has been widely reported. Although these compounds are detected at low concentrations in the environment, information on the fate and transport of pharmaceuticals in natural systems is still limited. The long-term effects on organisms from exposure are not known. The recognition that human and veterinary pharmaceuticals present in waste streams persist in aquatic environments has raised human and ecosystem heath concerns. The over arching goals of this research are to describe and quantify key processes influencing the transport and fate of a selected group of pharmaceutical compounds in sediment and groundwater systems, and to evaluated the sorption and reaction process likely to impact specific compound behavior in coarse grained hydrogeologic settings. This research is a key component of an ongoing international effort to examine the fate and transport of a select group of pharmaceuticals identified as being persistent in groundwater. Laboratory and field evaluations are being conducted in a variety of groundwater settings: the Berlin sand and gravel aquifer, a Canadian sand rich aquifer, and a highly conductive fluvial sand, gravel, cobble and boulder aquifer of the Missoula Valley, in Montana, USA (the focus of this work). Six compounds commonly reported in groundwater were selected for evaluation: carbamazepine, caffeine, gemfibrozil, ibuprofen, naproxen and sulfamethoxazole. Within the course of the project additional compounds were added to the analyses: nicotine, cotinine, ecstasy, methylated ecstasy, and cocaine. Batch sorption experiments and column tests were used to compute aquifer material attenuation properties. River and groundwater samples were geochemically characterized using approaches developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Batch and column experiments provided retardation and degradation values for the Missoula s…
author: Lynch, Tabetha Nicole
keywords: Missoula Aquifer, Pharmaceuticals
date published: 2010-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:12:12Z
provider: University of Montana
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Montana