Hosted by the Colorado State Section of the American Water Resources Association
with support from:

The Consortium for Research and Education on Emerging Contaminants (CREEC)
Colorado Foundation for Water Education
Colorado Water 2012

AWRA returns to Colorado for their 2nd specialty conference on Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in Denver, Colorado June 25-27, 2012.  CECs include: nonprescription and prescription drugs, hormones, personal care products, household chemicals, emerging disinfection by-products, pesticides, pathogens, and nanomaterials. Since the 2007 AWRA meeting in Vail (http://www.awra.org/proceedings/Vail2007) significant accomplishments have been realized in research, engineering, and community action related to CECs. The goal of the 2012 conference will be to provide a balanced interdisciplinary forum on CECs in the environment highlighting some of these efforts in a series of oral presentations and poster sessions.

The conference program includes high-quality technical research; practical information about CEC risk specifically targeted at educators, health officials, and policy makers; potential solutions to CEC-associated wastewater and drinking water problems and moderated discussion regarding future research and education needs. Technical sessions focus on the fate, transport, and environmental effects of CECs in the environment and in wastewater and drinking water treatment plants; the implications of CEC occurrence on water reuse; analytical methods for detecting CECs in water, sediment, soils, biosolids, tissue, and blood; assessments of potential human health risks or ecosystem effects; policy and engineering solutions to CEC issues; and implications of CEC research for policy and decision makers water utilities, and the pesticide, pharmaceutical and household chemical industries.

Conference Expectations

In the past decade we have seen a dramatic increase in scientific and public awareness about Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in drinking water, water supplies, and the environment. These chemicals, including: nonprescription and prescription drugs, hormones, personal care products, household chemicals, emerging disinfection by-products, pesticides, pathogens, and nanomaterials; are being found in the tissue, serum, urine, and excrement from humans and wildlife and can contaminant surface water and groundwater in both urban and undeveloped settings. CECs occurrence can impact ecosystem health and potentially human health. The Conference Planning Committee has developed a program that will:

• Be a forum for the exchange of timely topics such as: efficiency and costs of advanced drinking water and wastewater treatment, occurrence and fate of CECs in aquatic systems, potential human and ecosystem health effects of CECs, and policy and engineering solutions to CEC issues.
  
• Provide networking opportunities that stimulate discussion regarding the technical, economic and community aspects of CECs issues.
• Create an awareness of the need for sound science and policies to protect humans, wildlife, and ecosystems from unnecessary exposure to CECs.

Join us for an unforgettable and informative conference!

Jörg E. Drewes Conference Technical co-Chair Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Water Resources II: Research, Engineering, and Community Action

Alan Kolok Conference Technical co-Chair Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Water Resources II: Research, Engineering, and Community Action