Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Evaluating Contaminants Of Emerging Concern In Commercial Biosolid-Based Fertilizers, John Hemmerling, Michael L. Mashtare, Linda S. Lee

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The production and popularity of commercially available biosolid-based fertilizers are increasing because of their economic, environmental, and plant nutrition benefits, particularly in urban and suburban areas. Because biosolid-based fertilizers are derived from waste water treatment plant residuals, we hypothesized that there is the potential for micropollutants to persist in these products. Their presence would be of particular concern due to their potential impact on human and ecological health and risk of bioaccumulation. This study involves quantifying contaminants of emerging concern in three biosolid-based fertilizers, and 2 non-biosolid-based fertilizers, a composted animal manure and an organic compost. Our extraction method employed …