Methods for determining emerging contaminants in wetland matrices

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Abstract

Emerging contaminants are a growing concern in the environment. While their impact to humans is probably minimal, the main concern is their effect on aquatic organisms. These compounds enter aquatic ecosystems from agricultural runoff and treated wastewater discharge. Currently, regulations do not account for these compounds in wastewater treatment systems, which degrade and sequester compounds to varying degrees before discharge. Recent research has demonstrated the ability of wastewater treatment wetlands to reduce the loading of emerging contaminants into downstream water bodies. This chapter examines published extraction and analytical methods as well as USEPA Method 1694 to detect emerging contaminants in wetland environments. The extraction of compounds from low and high organic matter soils is discussed, followed by procedures to further remove interferences from soil extract and water samples with solid-phase extraction. The isotope dilution method, which incorporates deuterated standards for each analyte of interest, is used to assess compound recovery, correct for matrix effects and account for instrument sensitivity. Equations are presented to properly calculate compound concentrations using deuterated standards. The samples generated using these methods are best analyzed with a high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometer (HPLC-MS/MS). Finally, a recent study utilizing an adapted version of this method is presented to demonstrate a potential application with wetland samples.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Methods in Biogeochemistry of Wetlands

First Page

841

Last Page

855

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