Perspectives on Urbanization, Water and Food Security, and Contaminants of Emerging Concern
Bryan Brooks
Environmental Science, Baylor University
ABSTRACT: Historically, human populations have thrived near rivers and coastlines. Now the footprint of a metropolitan area can extend throughout a watershed and encompass smaller-order tributaries. Population densities dictate the need for new water supplies and reclamation infrastructure. Increasingly, effluent-dominated and dependent instream flows are becoming critical arteries for beneficial water reuse. Access to, consumption of, and concentration of chemicals is occurring rapidly, faster than the implementation of treatment technology in developing countries. For example, globally, 80% of sewage production is returned to the environment untreated. In developing nations, waters of diverse quality are being recycled for aquaculture, yet chemical residues are differentially studied. In this presentation, Bryan Brooks briefly reviews scientific lessons learned from his studies of down-the-drain chemicals, including ionizable contaminants. Though many questions remain, studies of contaminants of emerging concern continue to develop more sustainable environmental assessment and management of urban inland and coastal systems.
