UC Davis experts: Perchlorate contamination and clean up
Perchlorate, a salt used in the production of rocket fuel, flares, fireworks and matches that is now contaminating water supplies, is back in the news. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group reported recently that it found worrisome levels of perchlorate in lettuce; Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said the Food and Drug Administration should investigate.
The following faculty at the University of California, Davis, are available to discuss perchlorate contamination and clean-up. For more information, contact Sylvia Wright, News Service, (530) 752-7704, swright@ucdavis.edu.
- How perchlorate moves through groundwater
- Transport of perchlorate through soil
- Degrading perchlorate with chemicals and microbes
- Transport and remediation of perchlorate in the environment
How perchlorate moves through groundwater
UC Davis hydrogeologists Graham Fogg and Eric LaBolle and ecotoxicologist Michael Johnson are trying to estimate when and how much perchlorate was in the drinking water of residents of the California community of Rancho Cordova. In 1997, ammonium perchlorate, a chemical used to stabilize solid rocket fuel, was discovered leaking into Rancho Cordova water wells. To analyze where and how fast such contaminants travel through the ground and groundwater, the scientists are developing a unique, three-dimensional computer model using the latest groundwater-modeling technology coupled with water-distribution models. The work is funded through the California Department of Health Services by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Contact: Graham Fogg, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-6810, gefogg@ucdavis.edu.
Transport of perchlorate through soil
Dennis Rolston is a UC Davis professor of soil science and director of the John Muir Institute of the Environment. He works on the transport and biodegradation of several organic and inorganic contaminants in soil. His work on perchlorate with graduate student Deborah Tipton has investigated what soil and environmental factors control the movement and biodegradation of perchlorate in various soil materials. The research was funded by the Superfund Basic Research Program of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Contact: Dennis Rolston, Land, Air and Water Resources, derolston@ucdavis.edu, (530) 752-2113, (530) 754-9135.
Degrading perchlorate with chemicals and microbes
Kate Scow is a professor of soil microbial ecology. In collaboration with postdoctoral researcher Mamie Inoue and UC Davis colleague Professor Dennis Rolston, her lab is studying the biodegradation of perchlorate by indigenous microbial communities in soils and the unsaturated, or vadose, zone. Her research includes determining if perchlorate removal is enhanced by adding different chemical additives and microorganisms. Her lab also is developing DNA-based technologies to detect and identify the particular bacteria responsible for perchlorate biodegradation in soils and vadose zone. Scow has previously studied the use of microbes to degrade the gasoline additive MTBE. Contact: Kate Scow, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-4632, kmscow@ucdavis.edu.
Transport and remediation of perchlorate in the environment
Alan Jackman is a UC Davis professor of chemical engineering who is studying the interaction of perchlorate with soils, sediments and organic materials in order to develop improved models of environmental transport. He also is studying the use of activated carbon to remove perchlorate contaminants from streams and groundwater. Contact: Alan Jackman, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, (530) 752-8777 office or (530) 756-3484 home, apjackman@ucdavis.edu.
Media contact:
- Sylvia Wright, News Service, (530) 752-7704, swright@ucdavis.edu
Last updated January 22, 2004
