Clean water is predicted to become the world’s most valuable asset during this century, necessitating the improved monitoring of Australia’s limited water resources. Using a new and integrated monitoring approach, this ARC Linkage project in collaboration with Seqwater, Queensland Helth, EPA VIC, NIVA Norway and Biotage, developed and implemented novel passive sampling technologies to monitor a range of water pollutants, specifically toxic ionised organic chemicals of emerging concern (such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products and pesticides). The outcomes of this project have resulted in the calibration of cost-effective passive samplers advancing the detection of emerging chemicals in drinking, ground, surface, and wastewater. The technology has been applied by Australian industry and international collaborators and continues to support efforts to better characterise and understand risk from emerging ionised pollutants in environmental waters.
Outcomes
Passive samplers have been created and calibrated through this project and have been successfully applied to monitoring campaigns in Australia and overseas (Spain and the Czech Republic) for the detection of a range of chemicals of emerging concern. These include pesticides, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and illicit drugs. The samplers are helping inform levels of trace contaminants in a range of water systems in Australia.
Research Outputs
Schulze, B., Heffernan, A.L., Samanipour, S., Gomez Ramos, M.J., Veal, C., Thomas, K.V. and Kaserzon, S.L., 2023. Is nontarget analysis ready for regulatory application? Influence of peak-picking algorithms on data analysis. Analytical Chemistry, 95(50), pp.18361-18369.
Clokey, J.E., Hawker, D.W., Verhagen, R., Gorji, S.G., Knight, E.R., Thomas, K.V. and Kaserzon, S.L., 2023. Calibration of a microporous polyethylene tube passive sampler for polar organic compounds in wastewater effluent. Science of The Total Environment, 874, p.162497.
Soriano, Y., Alvarez-Ruiz, R., Clokey, J., Gorji, S., Kaserzon, S. and Picó, Y., 2023. Determination of Organic Contaminants in L´ Albufera National Park Using Microporous Polyethylene Tube Passive Samplers: An Environmental Risk Assessment. Available at SSRN 4348397.
Hawker, D.W., Clokey, J., Gorji, S.G., Verhagen, R. and Kaserzon, S.L., 2022. Monitoring techniques–Grab and passive sampling. In Emerging Freshwater Pollutants (pp. 25-48). Elsevier.
Schulze, B., van Herwerden, D., Allan, I., Bijlsma, L., Etxebarria, N., Hansen, M., Merel, S., Vrana, B., Aalizadeh, R., Bajema, B. and Dubocq, F., 2021. Inter-laboratory mass spectrometry dataset based on passive sampling of drinking water for non-target analysis. Scientific Data, 8(1), p.223.
Verhagen, R., Tscharke, B.J., Clokey, J., Gerber, C., Ghetia, M., Kaserzon, S.L., Thomas, K.V. and Mueller, J.F., 2021. Multisite calibration of a microporous polyethylene tube passive sampler for quantifying drugs in wastewater. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(19), pp.12922-12929.
Rauert, C., Kaserzon, S.L., Veal, C., Yeh, R.Y., Mueller, J.F. and Thomas, K.V., 2020. The first environmental assessment of hexa (methoxymethyl) melamine and co-occurring cyclic amines in Australian waterways. Science of the Total Environment, 743, p.140834.
Verhagen, R., Kaserzon, S.L., Tscharke, B.J., Shukla, P., Clokey, J., Vrana, B., Thomas, K.V. and Mueller, J.F., 2020. Time-integrative passive sampling of very hydrophilic chemicals in wastewater influent. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 7(11), pp.848-853.
McKay, S., Tscharke, B., Hawker, D., Thompson, K., O'Brien, J., Mueller, J.F. and Kaserzon, S., 2020. Calibration and validation of a microporous polyethylene passive sampler for quantitative estimation of illicit drug and pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP) concentrations in wastewater influent. Science of The Total Environment, 704, p.135891.
Research Impact
The tools developed through this project are being utilised by industry partners such as VIC EPA, DES QLD, NSW DPIE, Trop Water, and CSIRO to monitor and assess the environmental and human risks from a range of environmental water pollutants.
Grant Support
This project is part of an ARC Linkage grant in collaboration with the following partners:
- Victoria EPA
- Seqwater
- Queensland Health
- Norwegian Institute for Sea Research (NIVA)
