Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2009ME171B

Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy as a Rapid, Cost-Effective Method to Monitor and Analyze Low Levels of Pharmaceuticals in Three Maine Rivers.

Institute: Maine
Year Established: 2009 Start Date: 2009-03-01 End Date: 2010-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $1,250 Total Non-Federal Funds: $44,826

Principal Investigators: Howard Patterson, Adria Elskus, Jim Killarney, Lawrence LeBlanc, John Peckenham

Project Summary: Pharmaceutical compounds are contaminants of emerging concern in U.S. water supplies. Although the concentrations of individual compounds are very low, the sheer numbers of different compounds found are quite large. Very little is known regarding the behavior of these compounds in the water. Additionally, the toxicological effects on human and ecosystem health from chronic exposure to these numerous compounds are poorly understood. There is an evident need for cost-effective, rapid monitoring technologies that can detect pharmaceutical compounds at the low concentrations found in the environment for purposes of modeling and assessment. This study proposes the use of Synchronous Fluorescence Spectroscopy (SFS) and Emission Matrix (EEM) spectroscopy as techniques to identify and characterize pharmaceutical compounds in water samples. Analysis of EEM spectra will be performed using N-way partial lest squares regression-discriminate analysis (NPLS-DA) and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). These techniques, if determined robust, provide a cost-effective method of identifying and characterizing, at very low concentrations, exactly what mixture of compounds are present in the water.