UCLA Civil & Environmental Engineering Department

C&EE 200

Environmental Engineering and Hydrology & Water Resources

Organic Contaminants in Reclaimed Wastewater: Environmental Fate and Accumulation in Crop Plants

Prof. Joel A. Pedersen

University of Wisconsin – Madison

Global water resources are stressed by rising global temperatures, reduced precipitation in arid regions, and growing demand for water. Reclaimed wastewater is being increasingly used to augment freshwater supplies for both potable and non-potable uses, the latter including the irrigation of edible crops and ecological enhancement. Depending on the treatment processes employed, reclaimed wastewater may contain a variety of contaminants of potential toxicological relevance, and their presence in reclaimed wastewater may lead to unintended exposure of humans or ecological receptors. Wastewater-derived organic contaminants, including pharmaceuticals and personal care product ingredients, have emerged as widespread environmental contaminants. Many wastewater-derived organic contaminants are polar or ionizable, leading to differences in their mechanisms of sorption, transformation, and bioaccumulation relative to more widely studied nonpolar organic contaminants. My group has provided insight into mechanisms by which multifunctional organic contaminants associate with environmental sorbents and are transformed in natural and engineered systems. We are currently investigating processes influencing the accumulation of wastewater-derived contaminants in plants (e.g., in planta transformation, plant manipulation of rhizosphere pH). I will provide an overview of our contributions to understanding the sorption, transformation, and bioavailability of wastewater-derived organic contaminants of emerging concern, emphasizing recent and on-going work.

Where:   1200B Kinsey Science Teaching Pavilion

When:     1:00 – 1:50 PM, Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Dr. Joel Pedersen is a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison holding appointments in the Departments of Soil Science, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Chemistry. He is a core faculty member of two interdepartmental graduate programs: Environmental Chemistry & Technology and Molecular & Environmental Toxicology (School of Medicine and Public Health). Prof. Pedersen earned his B.S. degree at University of California Irvine, his M.S. degree at California Institute of Technology, and his doctorate at University of California Los Angeles. His research program focuses primarily on environmental interfacial chemistry, specifically on interfacial processes governing the sorption, transformation, and bioavailability of organic contaminants, biomacromolecules, and nanomaterials in natural and engineered systems.