Syracuse University

Since the Advent of Large-scale Commercial Production of Organic Chemicals for Use in Industry and Commerce, Many Compounds Have Find Their Ways Into Our Natural Environment by Accident or After Their Intended Use. of These, a Group of Anthropogenic Organic Chemicals Called Chemicals of Emerging Concern (CECS) Are Gaining Increasing Scientific Attention in Recent Years Because of Their Potential to Cause Undesirable Ecological and Human Health Effects. Many Cecs (e.g., Antibiotics and Synthetic Hormones) Enter Waterways Following the Application of Manure and Biosolids on Agricultural Lands, Posing a Direct Threat to the Downstream Communities and Ecosystems They Support. With This Project, We Seek to Address a Key Research Question Regarding How Human Decision-making and Hydrological Processes Shape the Transport of Cecs in New York Agricultural Watersheds and Its Implications for Sustainable Agroecosystem Management. to Meet Our Goal, We Will Pursue a Multidisciplinary Approach of Water Sampling in the Field, Chemical Screening in the Laboratory, Hydrologic Modeling, and Survey Analysis of Self-reported Human Behavior With an Emphasis on the Use and Application of Biosolids and Manure.cecs Are a Diverse Group of Organic Compounds That Are Largely Unregulated and Have Relatively Limited Monitoring Data Available. Most Importantly, Cecs Are Gaining Increasing Recognition in the Scientific Community and News Media as New Studies Emerge Describing Their Environmental Occurrence, Undesirable Aquatic Ecotoxicity, and Potential Human Health Effects. Currently, Cecs Pose an Unknown Threat to Downstream Populations and the Ecosystems They Support. While Cecs May Be Measured in Static Locations, Their Presence and Quantity Is Likely Determined by Both Human Behavior, in Terms of Source Application, and Hydrologic Processes, in Terms of Transport. While Characterizing Where These Chemicals Can Be Found Within and Near Agricultural Systems Is Especially Important, Holistic Connections Between Human Perceptions and Decisions, the Presence or Absence of Cecs, and the Potential Threats They Pose Through Their Transport to Downstream Freshwater Systems Are Still Unexplored. This Project Offers an Opportunity to Pursue These Linkages Towards Improved Modeling Tools and Understanding of Human Decision Making Regarding the Transport of Cecs From Source to Downstream Systems.this Project Will Involve a Combination of: 1) Surveys Sent to Agriculturalists, 2) Field Sampling of Waterways, 3) Laboratory Analysis of Those Samples to Identity and Quantify Cecs, and 4) Hydrological Modeling to Understand the Flows of Water Systems. by Asking Agriculturalists About Their Use of Manure and Biosolids Through Surveys (1), We Will Understand When and How These Materials Are Applied. We Can Then Examine This Behavior to Evaluate Whether Their Applications Result in Measurable Changes in Cecs Found in (2) the Field Samples Collected From Downstream Waterways. These Samples Will Be (3) Analyzed in the Laboratory Using High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS) to Screen for Potential Cecs. Data Collected From Steps 1, 2, and 3 Will Be Used to (4) Build Hydrological Models That Will Allow Us to Estimate Where and How Cecs May Be Transported Throughout New York Waterways. Connecting (1) Survey Research With (2) Water Samples Collected From Downstream Sites Will Be the First Step in Understanding How Cecs May Be Affected by Agricultural Decisions and Making Recommendations for Mitigating the Transport of Cecs to Downstream Water Bodies. We Will Also Combine (3) Chemical Analysis and (4) Hydrological Modeling Tools to Determine Potential Impacts of Both Seasonal Weather Variation and Event-scale (e.g., During Storm Events) Hydrologic Processes. This Will Be Paramount to Identifying Key Pathways That Transport Cecs Across New York Agricultural Landscapes.our Planned Project Will Link Human Behavior, Hydrologic Processes, and the Spatial and Temporal Occurrence and Concentrations for 500+ Cecs Across Agricultural Watersheds in Central New York. While Recent Advances Have Been Made at the National and Regional Level to Characterize the Presence of Cecs in Streams and Groundwaters, We Will Build on This Ongoing Work Across the U.s. to Improve Scientific Understanding of Where and When Cecs Occur in Agricultural Landscapes and to Identify Potential Risks. to Date, There Is Still a Broad Need to Improve Understanding of the Occurrence of Cecs Both in Space, as a Function of Land Use, Soil Properties, and Other Watershed-scale Heterogeneity and Through Time, as Influenced by Hydrologic Processes, and to Understand the Role of Human Application Behaviors. Characterizing When and How These Materials Are Applied and Whether This Corresponds to Observed Downstream Impacts Is the First Step in Making Recommendations for Ameliorating the Offsite Transport of Cecs in Agroecosystems. the Proposed Project Will Identify Priority Cecs and Sites Across New York Agricultural Landscapes for Continued Monitoring, Provide a Timely Assessment of Regional Surface Water Quality, and Broaden Knowledge Regarding the Relevance of Cec Occurrence to Seasonal and Event-scale Hydrologic Processes.cecs Are a Direct Threat to the Sustainability of Us Agriculture and Food Systems as Well as the Downstream Populations and Ecosystems They Support. Improving Our Understanding of Their Occurrence in Surface Waters Across Temporal Scales (e.g., Seasonally and During Storm Events) Is Paramount to Identifying the Pathways of Water That Transport Them. the Long-term Goal of This Project Is to Yield Critical Knowledge Regarding the Extent and Occurrence of Cecs, to Identify the Temporal Scales Necessary for Monitoring and to Link Occurrence Directly With Human Behavior and Hydrologic Processes. We Aim to Provide Recommendations to Local, State, and Federal Agencies Regarding Essential Sites, Primarily in Terms of Their Characteristics, That Should Be Targeted for Future Monitoring and to Make Behavioral Recommendations Relevant to a Broad Range of Agricultural Stakeholders. Outcomes From This Effort Will Ultimately Contribute to Better Understanding of Pathways for Cec Movement at the Watershed Scale and How This Varies in Space and Time. Such Information Is Necessary for Improving Models of Cec Transport, Identifying Actionable Upstream Changes to Source Application, and Providing a Holistic View of Cec Behavior as It Relates to Human Decision-making and Hydrological Processes.