Pharmaceuticals on the Soil, Oh My!
I spend my time in lab mixing up different pharmaceuticals in water, shaking up that pharmaceutical/water solution with soil and then using a complicated instrument called the HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography instrument) to see how much of each pharmaceutical stays in the water and how much latches onto the soil (through a process called sorption). Our lab focuses on the movement of pharmaceuticals in the environment because, frankly, there are lots of pharmaceuticals floating around out there. Studies show that a large number of pharmaceuticals have been detected at measurable (μg/L and ng/L) concentrations in ground water and drinking water worldwide.1-9 [Read more…] about Pharmaceuticals on the Soil, Oh My!