Download or read book Measuring and Addressing the Presence and Impact of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds From Anthropogenic Sources in Waterways written by Kathryn Hayden and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Similarly, detections of dexamethasone in influent coincided with increasing rates of hospitalized COVID-19 patients on ventilators. For the Penn State influent samples, detection of pharmaceuticals mostly aligned with periods of time when students were on campus. Considering the effluent, pain/fever reducers were well removed (>80% average removal efficiency) from both WWTPs. UAJA was typically better at removing antibiotics, but both WWTPs were poor in removing sulfamethoxazole (-55 to -84%), with effluent concentrations typically higher than influent concentrations. Acute risks of the pharmaceuticals on fish, daphnia, and algae were typically low, though trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole and naproxen occasionally posed high acute risks. Minimal chronic aquatic risks were observed. Risks were typically highest in February when students returned from remote learning. Overall, results from this study highlight the value/utility of wastewater surveillance during a health crisis to assess community health as well as ecological health. In general, results of the research presented in this dissertation demonstrate the importance of monitoring EDCs from households/personal care products and pharmaceuticals in waterways and the potential for citizen science to address some domestic sources of EDCs. From the increased detection of compounds from household/personal care products in surface water samples collected from 2018 to 2021, to the increased detection of select pharmaceuticals in wastewater during the COVID-19 pandemic, this research demonstrates the importance of monitoring and communicating the presence of EDCs in surface water and wastewater to stakeholders/the community. Communicating these results can help bring awareness to the presence of EDCs and shed light on potential impacts to the aquatic environment. From engaging citizen scientists in monitoring EDCs from households/personal care products and sharing information on ways to reduce EDC footprints, participants reported an increased awareness of EDCs and interest in taking actions to reduce their EDC footprint. While citizen science campaigns in this research were focused on the SRB, future studies can utilize these campaigns in other watersheds to increase awareness for and potentially help address water quality issues like EDCs in other areas. Overall, results of this dissertation highlight the presence, potential sources, and impacts of EDCs in the aquatic environment, as well as the potential for citizen science to address some of these sources to enhance water quality and protect the health of aquatic ecosystems.