Alan Kolok

Director, Nebraska Watershed Network UN OmahaDirector, Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology, UNMCFaculty Fellow, Daugherty Water for Food Institute

Water and Health: Issues and Opportunities.

January 27, 2016

Water and Health: Issues

Who Poisoned Flint, Michigan?January, 2016

Polluted Water

Improper Treatment

Adverse health impacts

Flint, Michigan is an example of a traditional water pollution problem:

- Limited geography

- Environmental problem is fixable.

- Biological problem is acute, obvious and newsworthy.

Common weed killer atrazine is showing up in public water supply.- August 2009

Small towns in Illinois have atrazine in their drinking water.

Atrazine, drinking water and public health.

Syngenta settles Atrazine lawsuit for $105 million. - January, 2013

Herbicide tainted water systems.

Debating how much weed killer is safe in our water glass.- August 2009

‘Super - wicked’ environmental problems- Lazarus 2009

- Environmental problem: multiple sources,

fixable only with considerable political effort.

- Vast geography.

- Biological problems are confronted by ‘doubters’.

The poster child for Super Wicked Problems:

Global climate change.

Is watershed scale atrazine contamination a super wicked problem?

Illinois Drinking Water Facilities

US EPA has collected preretreatment water sampled at 15 DWFs, mostly servicingsmall towns.

Sampling occurred from2004 until 2011.

March 1 - September 1 each year.

Most sites in most years had >20 atrazine measurements.

http://www2.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/atrazine-monitoring-program-data-and-results

Ashland, Illinois% exceedance of 3 ppb (0%)

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 10

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Atrazine Concentration Duration Curve

Percent of Time

Atr

azin

e (p

pb)

“Superconsumers” exist in the populaiton and are responsible for the majority of the data collection.

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 10

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Atrazine Concentration Duration Curve

Fraction of Time

Con

cent

ratio

n (p

pb)

Mt. Olive, Illinois % exceedance of 3 ppb (43%)Average atrazine conc. in raw water = 4.45 ppb

Average conc. in finished water = 2.6 ppb

The water quality between Mt. Olive and Ashland, 82 miles apart is considerably different.

To understand the health risks associated with agrichemicals in water, it is necessary to

understand the temporal and spatial variation in the occurrence of agrichemicals.

Temporal variation of atrazine in surface water.

The Elkhorn River Research Station

Atrazine testing strips:

Fast, inexpensive, accurate

Immediate reporting time (10 min)Inexpensive ($10 / sample)

Discriminates presence at 3 ppb

+ -

Weekly Atrazine Occurrence April 1-July 1 2011-2015

April May June

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Rain storms, river discharge and atrazine.

2012

29-Mar 18-Apr 8-May 28-May 17-Jun 7-Jul0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Wat

erlo

o G

agin

g St

atio

nM

ean

Dis

char

ge (c

ubic

ft/s

ec)

Knight et al. 2013. Env. Tox. Chem, 32:1544-1551.

2 2 2 M M M M M M M M J J Ju Ju Ju Ju Ju J J Ju0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Mea

n D

isch

arge

(W

ater

loo

USG

S ga

ging

stat

ion)

2013

Ali and Kolok 2015. Env. Tox. Chem. 34:1354–1361.

Compound

AtrazineAcetochlorMetolachlorDEADimethenamidDIAPropazine

29-Mar 18-Apr 8-May 28-May 17-Jun 7-Jul0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000W

ater

loo

Gag

ing

Stat

ion

Mea

n D

isch

arge

(cub

ic ft

/s)

Pulse

195401090936281262918655189

Post - Pulse69039

16022134

10617

Knight et al. 2013. Environ Toxicol Chem 32:1544-1551.

Atrazine is acting as a sentinel chemical, as it co-occurs with a number of other herbicides.

Acetochlor Alachlor Atrazine DEA

Propazine 0.93* 0.76* 0.97* 0.81*

Acetochlor 0.88* 0.91* 0.79*

Alachlor 0.74* 0.56

Atrazine 0.78*

Ali and Kolok 2015 In press. Environ Toxicol Chem.

Rel

ativ

e ge

ne

expr

essi

on

0.2

0.6

1

Lab water Pulse water

*

ER-a

12-Mar 1-Apr 21-Apr 11-May 31-May 20-Jun 10-Jul0

1000

2000

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5000

6000

7000

8000

Mea

n Di

scha

rge

(Wat

erlo

o U

SGS

gagi

ng st

ation

)

20122012

Knight et al. 2013. Environ Toxicol Chem. 32:1544-1551.

Rel

ativ

e ge

ne

expr

essi

on0.0

0.25

0.5

Lab water Pulse water

*

Vtg

*

22-Mar 1-Apr 11-Apr 21-Apr 1-May 11-May 21-May 31-May 10-Jun 20-Jun 30-Jun0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

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n Di

scha

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(Wat

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)

2012

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Vtg

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0.35

0.7

Lab water Post -pulse water

Rel

ativ

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ne

expr

essi

on

0.0

0.65

1.3

Lab waterPost-pulse

water

Knight et al. 2013. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 32:1544-1551

Temporal variation of atrazine in surface water.

Atrazine is present in pulses, that depend upon storm events.

The presence of atrazine is indicative of the presence of a suite of agrichemicals.

These chemicals are biologically active, and create adverse health impacts.

Spatial variation of atrazine across watersheds.

2011, “What’s in your watershed Day?”

Citizen Scientists, including members of Boy Scout Troop597 collected data on atrazine throughout the entire Elkhorn River basin.

Over 110 data points were collected and routed to a GIS dataset and map, all in one day.

Omaha Boy Scout Troop 597 at the Elkhorn River Research Station.

Omaha Boy Scout Troop 597 at the Elkhorn River Research Station.

- Omaha Boy Scout Troop 597

- Norfolk Boy Scout Pack 124

- Ewing Public Schools

- Audubon Society of Omaha

- Nebraska Master Naturalists

- Sierra Club Missouri Valley

- Keep Fremont Beautiful

- Keep Norfolk Beautiful

- Upper Elkhorn River NRD

Volunteer Organizations :

Data acquisition through an interactive website.

Super wicked problems.Lazarus (2009)

Interdependencies, uncertainties, circularities, and conflicting stakeholders implicated by any effort to develop a solution.

Time is not costless, the longer it takes to address the problem, the harder it will be to do so.

May 21, 2011 What’s in your Watershed Day

96 tests, 53 positive hits.

0/15 0% 4/12

33%

49/6971%

… or even continental.

New Orleans

Arkansas RiverOhio RiverMissouri RiverIllinois RiverMinnesota

Li’l Miss Atrazine – monitoring the occurrence of atrazine throughout the Mississippi River basin.

All samples were collected within a 24 hr period on June 7, 2014.

211 useable data points were collected from 7 states.

 

Region n > 3 ppb (%)

Far North (Minnesota) 23 0%North (N. Illinois) 63 9.5%St. Louis region 15 26%Central (Ky/Mo) 37 45%Lower (Louisiana) 9 0%

 

Ali et al. 2016 IEAM In press.

Within a single day, atrazineconcentration varies considerably from site to site acrossa large geography.

While not totally surprising, this is the first time that data of this type have been acquired simultaneously across a massive watershed.

The spatial and temporal relationships between atrazine application and detection in surface water are understood.

Efforts are underway to elucidatethe relationship between surface water incidenceand adverse health impacts.

Collaborators:

Daniel Snow University of Nebraska – LincolnShannon Bartelt-Hunt University of Nebraska – LincolnEleanor Rogan University of Nebraska Medical CenterGraduate Students :Marlo Sellin-Jeffries Lindsey Sherretts-KnightAshley Jessick Jonathan AliJodi Sangster Ryan KryslYun Zhang

Undergraduate Students :Nicholas Conoan, Aisling Quigley, Racine Rangel, Suzie Slobotski, Michael Benner, Anthony Riskowski, Yasmine Farhat, Miranda IliffJameson Linscott, Matthew Dunkle, Courtney Smith , Ashley EisertJennifer Kathol, Mariah Rakestraw, Jessica Edwards Afra AlbassamRebecca Wiemann, Joshua Ojomo, Derek Colwell, Karissa PyresDan Hawkins, Mariah Rakestraw

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