Dana W Kolpin
Dana Kolpin is a Research Hydrologist, with the Central Midwest Water Science Center in Iowa City, Iowa. Dana started his career with the USGS in 1984. His research interests include the fate, transport, and effects of environmental contaminants (e.g. pesticides, human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, hormones, etc.) in the environment.
Dana was the project lead of the USGS Toxic Program’s CECs in the Environment Project for its entire history (1998 – 2017). He is now project lead of the USGS Toxic Program’s newly formed Food Project (i.e. understanding the potential for health risks from contaminant exposures associated with production, manufacturing, use, and consumption of food, beverage, and feedstock products). He has published over 200 papers and reports on environmental contaminants. His paper "Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: A national reconnaissance" was a seminal paper on the occurrence of CECs in water resources, and was the first national-scale study of such compounds conducted in the United States. This paper has become the most heavily cited paper in Environmental Science & Technology history. He has published a diverse array of papers on the topic of environmental contaminants including research on CECs in landfills, changes in stream water chemistry and hydrology related to the closure of a wastewater treatment plant, detection of swine hepatitis E virus in streams, the transport of neonicotinoid insecticides in streams, the uptake of CECs into earthworms and into fish neural tissue, the occurrence of natural toxins (i.e. phytoestrogens and mycotoxins) in streams, and the first ever documentation of the off-field transport on nitrapyrin and herbicide safeners to streams. His most recent research interests include linking tap water quality to human health end points, investigating PFAS exposures in rural settings, determining the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment, and understanding chemical and microbial contaminants being discharged into the environment by food and feedstock processing plants.
Education and Certifications
M.S., Geology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
B.S., Geology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Science and Products
Degradates provide insight to spatial and temporal trends of herbicides in ground water
Determination of pharmaceutical compounds in surface- and ground-water samples by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
Work plan for determining the occurrence of glyphosate, its transformation product AMPA, other herbicide compounds, and antibiotics in midwestern United States streams, 2002
Pharmaceuticals, hormones, personal-care products, and other organic wastewater contaminants in water resources: Recent research activities of the U.S. Geological Survey's toxic substances hydrology program
Are veterinary medicines causing environmental risks?
Response to comment on "Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: A national reconnaissance"
Direct assessment of groundwater vulnerability from single observations of multiple contaminants
Do pharmaceuticals, pathogens, and other organic wastewater contaminants persist when wastewater is used for recharge?
Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams
Response to comment on "Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: A national reconnaissance"
Response to comment on "Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: A national reconnaissance"
Atrazine and metolachlor occurrence in shallow ground water of the United States, 1993 to 1995: Relations to explanatory factors
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Degradates provide insight to spatial and temporal trends of herbicides in ground water
Since 1995, a network of municipal wells in Iowa, representing all major aquifer types (alluvial, bedrock/karst region, glacial drift, bedrock/nonkarst region), has been repeatedly sampled for a broad suite of herbicide compounds yielding one of the most comprehensive statewide databases of such compounds currently available in the United States. This dataset is ideal for documenting the insight tAuthorsD.W. Kolpin, D.J. Schnoebelen, E. M. ThurmanDetermination of pharmaceutical compounds in surface- and ground-water samples by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
Commonly used prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals are possibly present in surface- and ground-water samples at ambient concentrations less than 1 μg/L. In this report, the performance characteristics of a combined solid-phase extraction isolation and high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC–ESI-MS) analytical procedure for routine determiAuthorsJ.D. Cahill, E. T. Furlong, M.R. Burkhardt, D. Kolpin, L.G. AndersonWork plan for determining the occurrence of glyphosate, its transformation product AMPA, other herbicide compounds, and antibiotics in midwestern United States streams, 2002
Changes in herbicide use in the Midwestern United States have been substantial over the last 5 years. Most significant is a tripling in the use of glyphosate (N-[phosphonomethyl]glycin). Over this same time period (19972001), atrazine use increased by 20 percent and acetochlor use increased by 10 percent, while cyanazine use decreased by 99 percent, alachlor use decreased by 70 percent, and metolAuthorsW.A. Battaglin, E. M. Thurman, D.W. Kolpin, E.A. Scribner, Mark W. Sandstrom, K.M. KuivilaPharmaceuticals, hormones, personal-care products, and other organic wastewater contaminants in water resources: Recent research activities of the U.S. Geological Survey's toxic substances hydrology program
Recent decades have brought increasing concerns for potential contamination of water resources that could inadvertently result during production, use, and disposal of the numerous chemicals offering improvements in industry, agriculture, medical treatment, and even common household products. Increasing knowledge of the environmental occurrence or toxicological behavior of these contaminants from vAuthorsMichael J. Focazio, Dana W. Kolpin, Herbert T. BuxtonAre veterinary medicines causing environmental risks?
Too little is known about the effects of these compounds, their metabolites, and degradation products.AuthorsAlistair Boxall, Dana W. Kolpin, Bent Halling-Sørensen, Johannes TollsResponse to comment on "Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: A national reconnaissance"
Till (1) raised concerns that several aspects of how we handled the data in our study (2) may have caused unintended bias. First, Till (1) considers the “median detectable concentrations” listed in Table 1 (2) to be misleading because “higher median concentrations than is actually the case” were suggested. We interpret this concern raised by Till (1) to be that some readers may misinterpret our meAuthorsDana W. Kolpin, Edward T. Furlong, Michael T. Meyer, E. Michael Thurman, Steven D. Zaugg, Larry B. Barber, Herbert T. BuxtonDirect assessment of groundwater vulnerability from single observations of multiple contaminants
Groundwater vulnerability is a central concept in pollution risk assessment, yet its estimation has been largely a matter of expert judgment. This work applies a method for the direct calculation of vulnerability from monitoring well observations of pesticide concentrations. The method has two major advantages: it is independent of the compounds being examined, and it has a direct probabilistic inAuthorsFred Worrall, Dana W. KolpinDo pharmaceuticals, pathogens, and other organic wastewater contaminants persist when wastewater is used for recharge?
No abstract available.AuthorsG. Cordy, N. Duran, H. Bouwer, R. Rice, F. Adamsen, J. Askins, D.W. Kolpin, E. T. Furlong, S.D. Zaugg, M. T. Meyer, L. B. BarberPharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams
A recent study by the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows that a broad range of chemicals found in residential, industrial, and agricultural wastewaters commonly occurs in mixtures at low concentrations downstream from areas of intense urbanization and animal production. The chemicals include human and veterinary drugs (including antibiotics), natural andAuthorsHerbert T. Buxton, Dana W. KolpinResponse to comment on "Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: A national reconnaissance"
We concur with the response of Eckel to our recent publication in this Journal (1). As the author notes, the topic of emerging contaminants is currently receiving extensive media coverage and scientific notice, but there are earlier reports that foreshadow this current interest. Eckel’s comment regarding the detection of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants (OWC) at a SuperfunAuthorsDana W. Kolpin, Edward T. Furlong, Michael T. Meyer, E. Michael Thurman, Steven D. Zaugg, Herbert T. BuxtonResponse to comment on "Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: A national reconnaissance"
We thank Ericson et al. (1) for their careful review and thoughtful comments on the synthetic hormone data presented in our recent publication summarizing the results from the USGS nationwide reconnaissance for pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants (2). Their efforts have helped raise the awareness of the difficulties in accurately measuring these compounds at the low concentraAuthorsDana W. Kolpin, Edward T. Furlong, Michael T. Meyer, E. Michael Thurman, Steven D. Zaugg, Larry B. Barber, Herbert T. BuxtonAtrazine and metolachlor occurrence in shallow ground water of the United States, 1993 to 1995: Relations to explanatory factors
Since 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey has been conducting the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to determine the quality of the Nation's water resources. In an effort to obtain a better understanding of why pesticides are found in shallow ground water on a national scale, a set of factors likely to affect the fate and transport of two herbicides in the subsurface were examined. AtAuthorsD.W. Kolpin, J.E. Barbash, R. J. Gilliom - News