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
Chemical contaminants in water and sediment near fish nesting sites in the Potomac River basin: determining potential exposures to smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)
Managing the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals in wastewater-impacted streams
Managing the impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals in wastewater-impacted streams
A revolution in analytical instrumentation circa 1920 greatly improved the ability to characterize chemical substances [1]. This analytical foundation resulted in an unprecedented explosion in the design and production of synthetic chemicals during and post-World War II. What is now often referred to as the 2nd Chemical Revolution has provided substantial societal benefits; with modern chemical de
Persistence and potential effects of complex organic contaminant mixtures in wastewater-impacted streams
Dissipation of contaminants of emerging concern in biosolids applied to non-irrigated farmland in eastern Colorado
Combined sewer overflows: an environmental source of hormones and wastewater micropollutants
Earthworm bioassays and seedling emergence for monitoring toxicity, aging and bioaccumulation of anthropogenic waste indicator compounds in biosolids-amended soil
Occurrence of antibiotic resistance and characterization of resistant genes and integrons in Enterobacteriaceae isolated from integrated fish farms south China
On the need for a national (US) research program to elucidate the potential risks to human health and the environment posed by contaminants of emerging concern
Nutrient and sediment concentrations and corresponding loads during the historic June 2008 flooding in eastern Iowa
Lagrangian sampling of wastewater treatment plant effluent in Boulder Creek, Colorado, and Fourmile Creek, Iowa, during the summer of 2003 and spring of 2005— Hydrological and water-quality data
Occurrence of azoxystrobin, propiconazole, and selected other fungicides in US streams, 2005-2006
Science and Products
Chemical contaminants in water and sediment near fish nesting sites in the Potomac River basin: determining potential exposures to smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)
Managing the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals in wastewater-impacted streams
Managing the impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals in wastewater-impacted streams
A revolution in analytical instrumentation circa 1920 greatly improved the ability to characterize chemical substances [1]. This analytical foundation resulted in an unprecedented explosion in the design and production of synthetic chemicals during and post-World War II. What is now often referred to as the 2nd Chemical Revolution has provided substantial societal benefits; with modern chemical de