Agilent Technologies is providing the core liquid chromatography/mass spectrometer (LC/MS) instrumentation for the University of Colorado's center for environmental mass spectrometry laboratory
The University of Colorado's department of civil, environmental and architectural engineering has opened its center for environmental mass spectrometry (Cems), a laboratory focusing on the detection of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic contaminants in water and evaluating the effectiveness of methods for removing these compounds.
The topic of pharmaceuticals in drinking water recently gained increased visibility when an Associated Press survey revealed that an assortment of drugs including antidepressants, antibiotics and birth control prescriptions were detected in the municipal drinking water of 24 major metropolitan areas serving 41 million Americans.
Cems was established at the University of Colorado by Imma Ferrer, Karl Linden, and Michael Thurman.
Thurman, a 30-year veteran of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in water testing, also spent five years in Spain, where Ferrer and he worked at the first LC/MS accurate mass facility in Spain for the analysis of pesticides in food.
Ferrer is the chief analyst of Cems and is responsible for the highest quality accuracy measurements and operation of the laboratory.
Linden directs research on the treatment of pharmaceuticals in water and plays a key role in laboratory development and design.
Furthermore, Cems has a collaborative agreement with Larry Barber of the USGS for the sampling and analysis of pharmaceuticals in the environment.
"Pharmaceuticals are biologically active compounds designed specifically to affect the human body," said Thurman.
"Low concentrations of parts-per-billion or parts-per-trillion generally aren't considered dangerous over the short term, but no one knows about the long-term human and ecological effects.
"There are also troubling effects on wildlife, such as male fathead minnows that are becoming 'feminised' from traces of the human birth-control compound EE2 in streams at concentrations of parts-per-trillion.
"This is noteworthy on a number of levels".
"Agilent is proud to support this innovative lab because few things are as fundamental to quality of life as clean drinking water," said Mike McMullen, vice president and general manager, Agilent chemical analysis.
"Over the years, global markets have demanded greater and greater analytical power in the quest for a cleaner environment with safer food, water and air.
"This is an excellent example of how our technology is being used for the greater good".
Barber and Thurman, co-authors of a 2002 USGS white paper 'Water-Quality Data for Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in US Streams, 1999-2000' have worked closely together on this topic and will continue their collaboration through Cems.
The paper captured the imagination of the scientific community, becoming the most-cited article in the history of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
It described the first nationwide reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals, hormones and other organic wastewater contaminants (OWC) in 135 streams in 30 states.
Samples were tested for 95 compounds, and at least one OWC was detected in 80 percent of the streams sampled.
"Traditionally, the topics that scientists were working on didn't enter the public consciousness for about ten years," Thurman observed.
"Now, people are much more educated and sensitive about health and environmental matters, because they recognise how factors like pollution, diet and lifestyle affect them personally."
