PHARMACEUTICALS DIRECTLY CONNECT DISTANT PARTS OF OUR ENVIRONMENT AND UNIFY CHALLENGES FACED IN SEEMINGLY DISTINCT ARENAS OF FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEMS WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT ORGANISMAL TOXICOLOGY AND HUMAN HEALTH. IN THIS PROJECT WE WILL TRACE PHARMACEUTICAL CONTAMINATION FROM HUMAN AND AGRICULTURAL SOURCES AIDED BY STABLE WATER ISOTOPE ANALYSIS. IN THIS MANNER WE WILL GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE HYDROLOGIC FLOW PATHS TAKEN BY EACH CONTAMINANT SOURCE AND BE ABLE TO TARGET CONTAMINANT SOURCES MORE PRECISELY TO MITIGATE FUTURE CONTAMINATION. WE WILL SURVEY BOTH FARMING AND NON-FARMING STAKEHOLDERS WITHIN THE WATERSHED TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN DECISIONS THAT LEAD TO INCREASED OR REDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL PRESENCE OF PHARMACEUTICALS. PAIRING BIOPHYSICAL AND SOCIAL DATA ALLOWS FOR A MORE ROBUST PERSPECTIVE OF THE STATE OF THE PROBLEM AND POSSIBLE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT CHANGES ARE MORE CLEARLY ELUCIDATED. ENVIRONMENTAL PRESENCE OF PHARMACEUTICALS IS OF CRITICAL CONCERN DUE TO THE INTERACTION WITH SOIL AND AQUATIC ORGANISMS WHICH CAN THEN IMPACT HUMAN AND LIVESTOCK HEALTH. STEMMING THE SPREAD OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE THROUGH CONTROL OF HUMAN AND ANIMAL WASTEWATERS IS ONE STEP IN UNDERSTANDING SOURCE PATHWAYS FOR PHARMACEUTICALS IN THE ENVIRONMENT.

University Of Connecticut, Storrs CT

Investigators