Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2010NJ231B

Green Remediation of Tetracycline in Soil-Water Systems

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2010 Start Date: 2010-03-01 End Date: 2011-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,000

Principal Investigators: Pravin Punamiya, Dibyendu Sarkar

Project Summary: Contamination of soil and water by veterinary antibiotics (VAs) has become a huge concern over the past few years in the U.S., including New Jersey. An increasing number of studies have shown the persistence of VAs, and the current “remediation” practice of letting the VAs degrade naturally in concentrated animal feeding operations and soil is inadequate to ensure protection of our soil and water resources. The proposed research will be the first step toward developing a “Green” low-cost technology that will provide a second life to a waste byproduct that will effectively immobilize VAs in the manure and soil, so that these harmful contaminants do not end up in surface water, ground water and in biota (food).