2019 Annual Meeting Presentation Awards Name: Meredith E. Seeley - - PDF document

2019 Annual Meeting Presentation Awards Name: Meredith E. Seeley University: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary Department: Aquatic Health Sciences Type of Degree: PhD Award: 1st Place Platform ($100) Title: Effect of different microplastics on sediment microbial communities and nitrogen cycling Meredith is a second year Ph.D. student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Her research focuses on understanding the effects of microplastics on marine biota. In particular, Meredith is interested in the complexities of plastic shape and chemistry, and which aspects drive toxicity. Prior to this, Meredith completed her Master’s of Science in Marine Science at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute. Her research focused on the weathering of oil following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and advancing techniques used to analyze complex petroleum hydrocarbons. Abstract: Polymer type has been shown to influence the composition of floating marine debris biofilm communities. However, no previous studies have investigated effects of plastics on sediment microbial communities and their biochemical activities, even though microplastics have been found across open ocean, coastal and inland sediments. Here, we present the results of a marsh sediment microcosm experiment established with microplastics (53-300 um) of different petroleum-based polymers (polyethylene [PE], polyvinyl chloride [PVC] and polyurethane foam [PUF]) and one biopolymer, (polylactic acid [PLA]). We characterized the sediment bacterial compositions and functional gene abundances after 7 and 16 days using 16S MiSeq analysis, and measured denitrification rates and nutrient fluxes. We found that bacterial community compositions were different between the biopolymer, petroleum-based polymers and plastic-free sediment, with PVC being the most distinctly different community. Nitrification gene abundances and nutrient fluxes revealed that nitrification was highest in the biopolymer (PLA), followed by PUF and PE, but almost completely inhibited in PVC. Correspondingly, denitrification gene abundances and denitrification rates (calculated via sediment slurry incubation using 15NO3- tracer) revealed an inhibition of denitrification in the PVC, and the highest denitrification activity in PLA treatments. Interestingly, denitrification and nitrification were higher in PE, PUF and PLA treatments than the control (no microplastic), suggesting some plastics may enhance sedimentary nitrogen cycling processes. Overall, this study highlights the distinct effect of different plastics on structure and function of sediment communities, and calls for expanded research in this area.

Name: Ross Cooper University: Virginia Tech Department: Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation Type of Degree: B.S. Award: 2nd Place Platform ($75) Title: Spatial and Temporal Changes in Water Quality in the Shenandoah River Watershed Ross is an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech graduating in the spring of 2020. Ross majors in Water: Resources, Policy, and Management and minors in Environmental Economics. Ross’ research focuses on the effects of land use and wastewater treatment on water quality, and their regulatory implications. Upon graduation from Virginia Tech, Ross intends to attend law school to specialize in environmental law. With Ross’ scholarship, he intends to bridge the gap between science, policy, and law. When Ross is not studying, he enjoys cooking vegan food and gardening. Abstract: The Shenandoah River watershed contains a high density of animal agricultural

• perations that produce large amounts of nutrient- and bacteria-containing waste. The

Commonwealth of Virginia has implemented bacteria and sediment Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for many Shenandoah River tributaries. Despite their implementation, there is a lack of data to demonstrate water quality improvement. This study analyzed long-term trends in nutrient concentrations as well as the correlation between these trends and pollution mitigation plans, land use changes, and agricultural best management practices (BMPs). For 27 sites, publicly available citizen-collected data from Friends of the Shenandoah River (FOSR) were analyzed for temporal trends (2002-2017) in nitrate, ammonia, orthophosphate, turbidity and

• discharge. Slopes from regression analyses were ranked as positive, negative, or no change.

These rankings were used in logistic regression to describe the relationship between water quality characteristics, applied BMPs, and TMDL status. Generally, there was no relationship between implemented BMPs in the watershed or TMDL status and analyte trends. Nitrate concentrations increased over time in the majority of tributaries. The probability of increasing nitrate concentrations in winter/spring was related to the amount of agricultural land in tributary

• watersheds. The probability of increasing nitrate concentrations in summer/fall was related to the

BMP practice of linear fence installation. Sites downstream of wastewater treatment plants showed decreasing orthophosphate and stable nitrate trends, suggesting regulations have been more effective in addressing point versus nonpoint source pollution. Results indicate a general disconnect between water quality, TMDL status, and BMP implementation, indicating a need for further assessment of applied practices and possible reevaluation of approaches to nonpoint source pollution mitigation.

Name: Mandar Bokare University: University of Maryland Baltimore College Department: Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering Type of Degree: Ph.D. Award: 3rd Place Platform ($50) Title: Ongoing inputs of PCBs to the Anacostia River from its tributaries during storm and base flow conditions Mandar is a 3rd year PhD student in the Environmental Engineering program at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). He is currently working in Dr. Upal Ghosh’s research group at UMBC. His research focuses on using passive sampling techniques to understand links between the fate-transport and bioaccumulation of contaminants such as PCBs, PAHs and OCPs in the environment, especially in urban watersheds. Abstract: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are major contaminants of concern in the Anacostia River. Elevated PCB levels in fish tissue have led to consumption advisories in the District of Columbia. Uptake of PCBs in aquatic organisms is governed by their dissolved concentration in water. In this study, polyethylene (PE) passive samplers were used to measure dissolved PCB concentration in Anacostia River and its tributaries. Passive sampler measurements, representing base flow conditions, were integrated with PCB concentrations in storm-flow suspended solids, measured by United States Geological Survey, to delineate PCB inputs from tributaries at storm and base flow conditions. For March – July 2017 sampling period, base-flow PCB concentrations ranged from 0.01 – 6.5 ng/L across the tributaries, while average concentration in the river was 1.6 ng/L. Dissolved PCB concentration in Lower Beaverdam Creek (LBC) was 3.4 times the concentration in the Anacostia River. At other tributaries, concentrations were lower than those in the river. Dissolved PCB concentrations in tributaries at storm flow conditions were up to 38 times lower than their respective concentrations at base-flow conditions, indicating that water quality impacts from suspended- sediment bound PCBs are lower than those from dissolved PCBs at base-flow. Total PCB loads, including dissolved- and particulate organic carbon-associated loads, were estimated at 580 g/year. Overall, 50% of dissolved loads are attributed to storm-flow conditions with 95% coming from LBC. LBC also had the most negative impact on water quality with higher chemical activity of dissolved PCBs at both base and storm-flow conditions as compared to PCBs in the Anacostia River. LBC also contributed 83% of the total dissolved load (storm + baseflow). Although storms delivered 98% of total sediment load delivered to the Anacostia River, these sediments were relatively cleaner than the surface sediments in Anacostia River and help in the natural attenuation of PCBs. These results highlight the importance of tracking dissolved pollutants in aquatic systems and the need to complement existing approaches for estimating pollutant loadings with better understanding of chemical activity of pollutants obtained through passive sampling techniques

Name: Caitlin Weible University: Towson University Department: Environmental Science and Studies Type of Degree: M.S. Award: 1st Place Poster ($100) Title: Effects of Dermal Exposure to Perfluroocatesulfonic acid (PFOS) on Brown Anoles (Anolis sagrei) Caitlin is currently a second-year graduate student completing her masters in environmental science at Towson University in Maryland. Her research interests focus primarily on wildlife ecotoxicology with a particular focus on reptiles and amphibians. Caitlin plans to either pursue a Ph.D. or find employment in risk assessment upon graduation. Abstract: Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent and abundant environmental contaminants, creating concern about their potential ecotoxicological effects on humans and wildlife. The goal of this research was to investigate the uptake and effects of a specific PFAS known as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), on reptilian species, by means of dermal exposure. To address this research objective, we maintained brown anoles (Anolis sagrei)

• n PFOS-contaminated sand for 90 days. A total of 40 lizards were utilized for this experiment;

30 animals were reared on PFOS-contaminated sand while 10 served as controls (no added PFOS). Approximately 1kg of sand was placed in each individual housing container. Sand was contaminated by adding approximately 5,000 mL of 50:50 mix of methanol and moderately hard water to 3.277 mg of PFOS. The PFOS, methanol, and water mixture was then slowly poured

• ver 14.4kg sand with a target concentration that equaled the 75th percentile of soil samples
• btained from a database of PFOS-contaminated sites (227 ug of PFOS per kg soil). Lizards

remained under experimental conditions for either 30, 60, or 90 days. Behavioral observations were taken three times a week and total mass was measured every week. At the chosen sampling time for a given lizard, liver, skin, and muscle samples were harvested for chemical analysis (data forthcoming). There were no noticeable behavioral effects, however, PFOS-treated individuals that were exposed for the entire 90 days generally lost body mass overall from the beginning to end of the experiment, while the control group generally gained body mass. Body mass-corrected liver mass also was slightly decreased in PFOS-exposed lizards compared to the control lizards. To our knowledge this is the only PFOS dermal exposure study involving reptiles and these data will provide useful insights into ecological risk assessment of ground dwelling species in PFAS contaminated habitats.

Name: Alterra Sanchez University: University of Maryland Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering Type of Degree: Ph.D. Award: 2nd Place Poster ($75) Title: Fabricating microplastics with standardized surface area for quantifying the sorption of organic pollutants Alterra Sanchez is in her third year of the Marine-Estuarine and Environmental Sciences doctoral program in environmental chemistry at the University of Maryland College Park under the guidance of Dr. Alba Torrents and Dr. Lance Yonkos. Her research is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program award and an internship with DC Water's Blue Plains, the largest advanced wastewater treatment plant in the world. Alterra studies the fate and transport of organic pollutants and microplastics in wastewater

• effluent. She has developed a method to make "weathered" microplastics for more realistic and

standardized toxicology and sorption experiments. Currently, she is working on developing a method using micro-Raman spectroscopy to identify and quantify microplastics from wastewater

• effluent. This summer, Alterra will be studying the sorption of caffeine, venlafaxine (the

antidepressant, Effexor), diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and DEET (mosquito repellant) to

• microplastics. Her hobbies and interests include, but are not limited to (and not really in any
• rder): yoga, baking, reading fantasy and science/action thriller novels, swimming, playing

Dance Dance Revolution, Magic the Gathering card game, Goddess studies, neurological diversity, quantum physics, trying new foods, and metal concerts. Abstract: It is known that organisms ingest microplastics and they may cause deleterious effects, but it is unclear how large a role microplastics play as a particle versus as an exposure route to organic pollutants. Many studies have tried to address this issue; however there has been much criticism for environmentally irrelevant experiments. Additionally, ecologically relevant experiments have not used standardized microplastic particles and have shown mixed results. The heterogeneity of methods makes comparing studies challenging, if not impossible. There is a clear need for the development of standardized methodology for testing the toxicity of microplastics and sorbed pollutants. An integral part of this process will be the creation of “weathered” microplastics of consistent surface area, as this particle attribute affects sorption. In

• rder to address this problem, the objective of this study was to develop a methodology to

fabricate irregularly shaped microplastics with a standardized surface area on a mass basis. Rods

• f high-density polyethylene and polypropylene were cooled in liquid nitrogen and shaved with a

stainless-steel wood file. The particles were sieved through nine different pore sizes, and then solvent cleaned. Results will be presented that will show how surface area and surface morphology changes with particle diameter for all nine sizes, and will include a sorption case study with the antimicrobials triclocarban and triclosan.

Name: Erica Loudermilk University: University of Virginia Department: Environmental Systems and Environment Type of Degree: Ph.D. Award: 3rd Place Poster ($50) Title: Evaluating Effects of Algae-mediated Treatment on Elicitation of Antibiotic Resistance in Wastewater Treatment Plants Erica is a second-year Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Engineering at the University of Virginia in Lisa Colosi Peterson’s lab group. She currently explores techniques for mitigating antibiotic resistance in and downstream of wastewater treatment systems, but hopes to expand her scope to include GIS modelling of the spread of antibiotic resistance developing from all sources, including animal agriculture. Abstract: The prevalence of antibiotics downstream of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has resulted in increased presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The addition of a tertiary treatment using algae with natural photoirradiation has been shown to be beneficial to WWTPs from both a contaminant-removal and energy-generating perspective as previous LCA studies have shown that the addition of this treatment could result in a net-energy surplus if the algae is anaerobically digested to produce methane biogas, which can be converted into bio-electricity for the plant. Algae-based treatment has promising potential to remove other emerging contaminants, such as antibiotics. This study evaluates the removal of tetracycline (TET), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and roxithromycin (ROX) by the freshwater alga Scendesmus dimorphus to assess the effectiveness of algae-based tertiary treatments in mitigating against antibiotic resistance for three antibiotics commonly present in WWTPs. Adaptive laboratory evolution was performed using Escherichia coli as a model bacterium. The results show that the algae-treated effluents exhibited reduced capability to elicit antibiotic resistance in E. coli compared to the untreated effluents. These results offer a promising approach for using algae-mediated tertiary treatments in WWTPs to combat antibiotic resistance downstream of the plant.