Grantee Research Project Results
Use of Long-Term In Situ Sorbents and Rapid Bioassays in Groundwater Monitoring
EPA Grant Number: U915464Title: Use of Long-Term In Situ Sorbents and Rapid Bioassays in Groundwater Monitoring
Investigators: Gustavson, Karl E.
Institution: University of Wisconsin - Madison
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: January 1, 1998 through January 1, 2001
Project Amount: $74,682
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Fellowship - Toxicology , Academic Fellowships , Human Health
Objective:
The objective of this research project is to use in situ sorbents and rapid bioassays to monitor toxicants in groundwater as a means to overcome shortcomings associated with conventional methods.
Approach:
Long-term in situ monitors, semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs)—lay-flat, low-density polyethylene tubing containing a lipid (triolein), which concentrates hydrophobic contaminants because of preferential partitioning—are deployed within groundwater monitoring wells to accrue contaminants over time. Groundwater will be sampled at sites such as manufactured gas plants, landfills, and agricultural chemical production facilities impacted by a variety of chemicals (e.g., pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and solvents). SPMDs will be deployed in impacted wells at each site for 28 days with conventional (grab) sampling conducted at the beginning and end of the deployment period. Following SPMD recovery, both the SPMDs and the "grab" water samples are extracted in the laboratory: SPMDs by dialysis against hexane and water samples by liquid/liquid extraction with methylene chloride. The extracts then are split for analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and the two bioassays. Contaminant profiles and concentrations will be compared between the "grab sample," and the SPMD extracts will be correlated with data from the toxicity tests.Results will be used to determine the suitability of the in situ samplers in groundwater monitoring and the use of bioassays to provide a measure of the potential impact of groundwater contamination on organism and human health.
Supplemental Keywords:
fellowship, groundwater, bioassay, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, PAH, groundwater monitoring, toxicants, contaminants, contaminationsemi-permeable membrane device, SPMD., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Waste, Water, Ecological Indicators, Ecosystem Protection, Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Engineering, Chemistry, & Physics, Groundwater remediation, Monitoring/Modeling, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Hydrology, Environmental Engineering, bioassay, in-situ measurement, sorbents, groundwater, contaminants, long-term monitoring, continuous monitoring, groundwater monitoring, in situe monitorsProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.