PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Tracy Wiegner
Co-INVESTIGATORS: Steven Colbert, Chester Dabalos, Paul Edmiston
Research Track: Contaminants of Emerging Concern

Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are a vast and diverse group of chemicals that are ubiquitous in the environment because of their widespread use and refractory nature. Most CECs are not commonly monitored or regulated in the environment because of analytical limitations. They are of ‘concern’ because they have known or suspected adverse human and ecological health effects (UNESCO 2019). Most CECs are bioreactive, bioaccumulate, and biomagnify, having chronic and persistent effects on the environment. Even in low concentrations, many of these chemicals may cause chronic toxicity, endocrine disruption in humans and aquatic life, and development of bacterial pathogen resistance. Environmental conditions can also affect toxicity of these chemicals. It is at this nexus that CEC’s contamination and ecosystem impacts will be affected by future changes in climate and ocean conditions.

While awareness and research on CECs’ impact on the environment and human health is growing (Mortimer & Batley 2023), there is limited research on CECs in Hawai‘i’s waters, many of which are impacted by wastewater. This project will examine the release and transport of CECs, including PFAS, from onsite sewage disposal systems into groundwater and nearshore coral reefs, impacts from which are largely unknown. We will sample stations in three coastal communities on Hawaiʻi Island repeatedly over the two-year study period, allowing for temporal variability of CEC concentrations to be assessed. To our knowledge, no study in Hawai‘i has examined temporal variability of CEC concentrations in nearshore waters.