Freshwater Science: Monitoring New Contaminants in Public Drinking Water Sources
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), including antibiotics, are emerging contaminants in water that are not completely eliminated during water treatment. Because these compounds can affect human and wildlife health, it’s important to assess their presence in drinking and wastewater.
Dr. Jen Mou and Dr. Laura Leff at Kent State University are developing new methods to detect these compounds, to help guide approaches for dealing with contaminants like them in the future. The team also wants to determine if the presence of a bacterial gene that codes for antibiotic resistance can predict levels of antibiotic contamination in water samples.