Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2002TX60B

Fate of a Representative Pharmaceutical in the Environment

Institute: Texas
Year Established: 2002 Start Date: 2002-03-01 End Date: 2003-02-01
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $22,667

Principal Investigators: Audra Morse, Andrew Jackson

Project Summary: The challenges of reusing and recycling wastewater are especially important in arid regions like West Texas, as well as several areas. In many areas of the US, wastewater discharges may constitute most of the flow of many streams. Recently, there has been a heightened national interest in possible presence of a variety of pharmaceutical- or drug-related chemicals which find their way into surface waters. A major concern is that non-pathogenic bacteria may develop resistance to antibiotics and pass this resistance on to pathogenic organisms, thus possibly increasing the incidence of waterborne diseases. In several instances, high levels of a class of chemicals called endocrine disruptors has been observed in streams, rivers and lakes. As a result, there are fears that the presence of these drugs can result in reproductive problems and abnormalities in fish and other aquatic organisms. There are also concerns that endocrine disruptors can also result in human health problems. The focus of this project is to utilize the Lubbock, Texas, Wastewater Treatment Plant as a facility to test the fate of a commonly used antibiotic, in this case amoxicillin, in effluents. This plant provides secondary treatment, and wastewaters from this site are used to irrigate the Lubbock Sewage Farm. In this project, wastewater samples will be collected from various sites at this plant at various stages, including inflowing or raw wastewater, the activated sludge basin, and finished wastewaters that will be used for irrigation. The samples will be tested for amoxicillin. Antibiotic resistance will be measured and monitored. From this project, the researchers anticipate learning more about the fate and occurrence of a commonly used antibiotic in streams and ecosystems. In broader terms, this project will lead to a greater understanding of the range of potential problems posed by the release of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals into water resources and the environment.