HMSC VIRTUAL RESEARCH SEMINAR

SPEAKER: Samreen Siddiqui, Postdoctoral Scholar, Brander Lab, Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station (COMES) at Oregon State University

TOPIC: Contaminants of emerging concern in surface water (including marine or coastal) ecosystems with possible climate change impacts

ABSTRACT: Concerns about water quality are increasing with emerging contaminants added to surface waters that may get worse with increasing climate change impacts. After reaching wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), water is treated and discharged to the surface water, but generally at a lower quality than what was originally extracted containing contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs; nanoparticles, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, estrogen-like compounds, flame retardants, detergents, and some industrial chemicals with potential significant impact on human health and aquatic life) with other sources. Due to inadequate research, there are no limits implemented yet to reduce CEC quantity in WWTP effluent water. This could cause trouble for consumers of surface waters, including coastal waters. One such consumer is the aquaculture industry, which is growing to support human protein consumption demands while depending on surface water. When CECs end up in surface waters, fishes and other food organisms can take them, and they become part of the food chain, which eventually comes to humans. In this presentation, I will describe the work done to understand the impacts of CECs on aquatic species during my dissertation with a brief discussion on present work at Brander lab and the next steps describing possible impacts of climate change.

DATE: Thursday, March 18, 2021

TIME: 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time

For the live broadcast of the VIRTUAL Thursday Seminar, visit:
https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/94555731151?pwd=RnJ6eVg0ODdzRUpVc0pQbUlIdUV3dz09
Password: 972587 or call +1-971-247-1195 US Meeting ID: 945 5573 1151

For recordings of past Thursday Seminars, visit: http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/pastseminars