The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois co-hosted the 2018 Emerging Contaminants in the Aquatic Environment Conference (ECACE18) which was held on June 5-6 in Champaign, IL. The third annual conference highlighted research, education, and policies related to recently detected emerging contaminants […]
Read More from From PFASs to Plastics, Earth’s Waters Need Our Help
In this story from CityLab, Leslie Nemo chronicles how eighty coconut-fiber “islands” in the Chicago River’s manmade North Branch canal hosts wildlife and filters pollutants from the water. ISTC’s Wei Zheng provides scientific expertise about how the plants help remove contaminants from the river.
The Illinois governor recently signed House Bill IL-HB5741 that amends the University of Illinois Scientific Surveys Act. The new section 21 asks the Prairie Research Institute (PRI), which was established under the Scientific Surveys Act in 2008, to conduct a scientific literature review of chemicals identified in wastewater treatment plant effluents that are recognized as […]
The 2019 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference (ECEC19) will be held on May 21-22, 2019, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign, IL. The call for abstracts will open in mid-October and registration will open in February. Check out our website for up-to-date information on the conference: https://istc.illinois.edu/events/conferences/ECEC19.
Read More from Save the date: 2019 Emerging Contaminants Conference – May 21-22 in Champaign
You can now submit abstracts for the 2019 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference. Abstracts are requested for oral and poster presentations on all aspects of emerging contaminants in the environment, including research, public health, policy, management, outreach, and education. The conference will include sessions on: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) (including PFOS, PFOA, & […]
When you dump expired cold syrup or rinse out an almost empty bottle of lotion into the sink, do you ever consider what chemicals are being introduced into the water supply? The increase of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) entering public water systems was a problem that researchers at the University of Illinois at […]
Read More from Illinois Researchers Take Novel Approach to Removing PPCPs from Water
For a number of farms in the Midwest, nitrapyrin is used to help hold nutrients in agricultural fields until the plants have a chance to use them. Nitrapyrin increases the availability of nitrogen fertilizer, which boosts crop production. Therefore, nitrapyrin can improve nitrogen use efficiency, reduce nutrient losses, and thereby mitigate eutrophication (excess nutrients spurring […]
Read More from Agricultural Chemicals in the Environment: A Study on Nitrapyrin
Keynote speakers for the 2019 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment conference have been announced. The conference will be held on May 21-22, 2019, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign, IL. This year the conference will expand beyond the aquatic environment to also include air and soil studies along with effects on human and animal health. […]
Read More from 2019 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference announces keynote speakers
ISTC has announced its schedule of sustainability seminars for Spring 2019. All seminars are held from noon-1 pm in the SJW Conference room at ISTC 1 Hazelwood Dr in Champaign. Metered parking ($1/hr) in the lot; bike parking; and yellow bus stops at Hazelwood and Oak. The seminars are also broadcast via webinar for those who […]
Read More from ISTC announces Spring 2019 sustainability seminars
by Lois Yoksoulian – Physical Sciences Editor of U of I News Bureau Microplastics contaminate the world’s surface waters, yet scientists have only just begun to explore their presence in groundwater systems. A new study is the first to report microplastics in fractured limestone aquifers – a groundwater source that accounts for 25 percent of […]
Read More from Microplastic contamination found in common source of groundwater, researchers report