Mechanistic and Predictive Understanding of Emerging Contaminant Fate Across Land and Aquatic Systems

Session ID#: 282843

Session Description:
What we cannot see often shapes what we experience. Emerging contaminants (ECs)—including PFAS, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides—move through interconnected Earth systems, linking soils, waters, coasts, and communities. Their behavior is controlled by hydrologic connectivity, biogeochemical processes, and ecosystem dynamics, influencing exposure and risks to ecosystems and human health. This session focuses on the transport, transformation, and fate of ECs across the land–water continuum. We welcome studies examining biogeochemical controls (e.g., redox processes, mineral–water interactions, microbial activity) and hydrologic pathways that regulate contaminant mobility, persistence, and bioavailability. Emphasis is placed on integrating environmental processes with GeoHealth outcomes, including exposure, toxicity, and risk assessment. We encourage contributions using chemical and biological “omics” approaches, as well as AI and data-driven methods (e.g., machine learning, physics-informed models) to predict contaminant behavior and identify hotspots. Interdisciplinary studies, including field, lab, and modeling approaches, and those addressing climate impacts, are strongly encouraged.
Index Terms:

0217 Environmental persistence of herbicides and pesticides [GEOHEALTH]
0230 Impacts of climate change: human health [GEOHEALTH]
0232 Impacts of climate change: ecosystem health [GEOHEALTH]
0448 Geomicrobiology [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
Primary Convener:  Srimanti Duttagupta, University of Georgia, Department of Geology, Athens, United States
Conveners:  Avishek Dutta, University of Georgia, Department of Geology, Athens, United States and Abhijit Mukherjee, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Department of Geology and Geophysics; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kharagpur, India
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