Diana Aga | |
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Born | |
Alma mater | B.S. University of the Philippines at Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines (1988) Ph.D. University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (1995) Postdoctoral fellow Swiss Federal Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ETH/EAWAG), Zurich, Switzerland, (1996-1998) |
Known for | Environmental analytical chemistry, detecting agricultural & pharmaceutical contaminants in water |
Awards |
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Scientific career | |
Institutions | University at Buffalo |
Thesis | Analytical applications of immunoassays in environmental and agricultural chemistry : study of the fate and transport of herbicides (1995) |
Website | https://www.buffalo.edu/renew/research/alert--aga-lab-for-environmental-research-and-testing.html |
Diana S. Aga is a Filipino-American chemist who is the Henry M. Woodburn Chair in the Chemistry Department at the University at Buffalo. In 2023, she named a SUNY Distinguished Professor. [2] Aga is the director of UB's Research and Education in Energy, Environment and Water (RENEW) Institute. [3] At the University at Buffalo, she named her laboratory in the Chemistry Department at the University - the Aga Laboratory for Environmental Research and Testing (ALERT). [4]
Aga obtained a bachelor's in agricultural chemistry from the University of the Philippines Los Bañosin 1988. [5] She earned a Ph.D from the University of Kansas. For her Ph.D, she researched applications of immunoassays in agricultural chemistry. [6] After graduating, she worked briefly for the United States Geological Survey [7] and then joined ETH Zurich as a postdoctoral scholar for two years.
After a brief spell in industry, Aga returned to academia, and was appointed to the faculty at the University at Buffalo in 2002. [5] In 2000, Aga was awarded an National Science Foundation CAREER Award. [8]
Aga does mass spectroscopy analysis to obtain detailed information on chemical composition and information on compounds in materials. She is one of many scientists worldwide who have applied this mass spectroscopy technique to investigate pesticides in crops, [5] contaminants in ground and wastewater, [9] presence of antibiotics in wastewater, [10] [11] chemical compositions of brominated flame retardants(polybrominated diphenyl ethers, BDEs) which are toxic chemicals. [12] Aga has co-authored a paper describing the presence of pharmaceuticals, in particular antidepressants, in Great Lakes fish. [13] [14] [15]
Chemical waste is any excess, unused, or unwanted chemical, especially those that cause damage to human health or the environment. Chemical waste may be classified as hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste, universal waste, or household hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is material that displays one or more of the following four characteristics: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity. This information, along with chemical disposal requirements, is typically available on a chemical's Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). Radioactive waste requires special ways of handling and disposal due to its radioactive properties. Biohazardous waste, which may contain hazardous materials, is also handled differently.
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants mix with these water bodies. Contaminants can come from one of four main sources: sewage discharges, industrial activities, agricultural activities, and urban runoff including stormwater. Water pollution is either surface water pollution or groundwater pollution. This form of pollution can lead to many problems, such as the degradation of aquatic ecosystems or spreading water-borne diseases when people use polluted water for drinking or irrigation. Another problem is that water pollution reduces the ecosystem services that the water resource would otherwise provide.
Triclosan is an antibacterial and antifungal agent present in some consumer products, including toothpaste, soaps, detergents, toys, and surgical cleaning treatments. It is similar in its uses and mechanism of action to triclocarban. Its efficacy as an antimicrobial agent, the risk of antimicrobial resistance, and its possible role in disrupted hormonal development remains controversial. Additional research seeks to understand its potential effects on organisms and environmental health.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical compound primarily used in the manufacturing of various plastics. It is a colourless solid which is soluble in most common organic solvents, but has very poor solubility in water. BPA is produced on an industrial scale by the condensation reaction of phenol and acetone. Global production in 2022 was estimated to be in the region of 10 million tonnes.
Aquatic toxicology is the study of the effects of manufactured chemicals and other anthropogenic and natural materials and activities on aquatic organisms at various levels of organization, from subcellular through individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. Aquatic toxicology is a multidisciplinary field which integrates toxicology, aquatic ecology and aquatic chemistry.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that are resistant to degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. They are toxic and adversely affect human health and the environment around the world. Because they can be transported by wind and water, most POPs generated in one country can and do affect people and wildlife far from where they are used and released.
Nonylphenols are a family of closely related organic compounds composed of phenol bearing a 9 carbon-tail. Nonylphenols can come in numerous structures, all of which may be considered alkylphenols. They are used in manufacturing antioxidants, lubricating oil additives, laundry and dish detergents, emulsifiers, and solubilizers. They are used extensively in epoxy formulation in North America but its use has been phased out in Europe. These compounds are also precursors to the commercially important non-ionic surfactants alkylphenol ethoxylates and nonylphenol ethoxylates, which are used in detergents, paints, pesticides, personal care products, and plastics. Nonylphenol has attracted attention due to its prevalence in the environment and its potential role as an endocrine disruptor and xenoestrogen, due to its ability to act with estrogen-like activity. The estrogenicity and biodegradation heavily depends on the branching of the nonyl sidechain. Nonylphenol has been found to act as an agonist of the GPER (GPR30).
Triclocarban is an antibacterial chemical once common in, but now phased out of, personal care products like soaps and lotions. It was originally developed for the medical field. Although the mode of action is unknown, TCC can be effective in fighting infections by targeting the growth of bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. Additional research seeks to understand its potential for causing antibacterial resistance and its effects on organismal and environmental health.
Triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) is the chemical compound with the formula OP(OC6H5)3. It is the simplest aromatic organophosphate. This colourless solid is the ester (triester) of phosphoric acid and phenol. It is used as a plasticizer and a fire retardant in a wide variety of settings and products.
The environmental effect of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is being investigated since at least the 1990s. PPCPs include substances used by individuals for personal health or cosmetic reasons and the products used by agribusiness to boost growth or health of livestock. More than twenty million tons of PPCPs are produced every year. The European Union has declared pharmaceutical residues with the potential of contamination of water and soil to be "priority substances".[3]
Environmental impacts of cleaning products entail the consequences that come as a result of chemical compounds in cleaning products. These cleaning products can contain chemicals that have detrimental impacts on the environment or on people.
The term environmental persistent pharmaceutical pollutants (EPPP) was first suggested in the nomination in 2010 of pharmaceuticals and environment as an emerging issue in a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) by the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE). The occurring problems from EPPPs are in parallel explained under environmental impact of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP). The European Union summarizes pharmaceutical residues with the potential of contamination of water and soil together with other micropollutants under "priority substances".
The University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or UB Engineering, is the largest public engineering school in the state of New York and is home to eight departments. Established in 1946, UB Engineering is ranked 59th by U.S. News & World Report and has an annual research expenditure of $72 million.
Drug pollution or pharmaceutical pollution is pollution of the environment with pharmaceutical drugs and their metabolites, which reach the aquatic environment through wastewater. Drug pollution is therefore mainly a form of water pollution.
Deborah Liebl Swackhamer was an environmental chemist and professor emerita at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Swackhamer applied her expertise in studying the effects of exposure to toxic chemicals, as well as the processes that spread those chemicals, to developing policies that address exposure risks.
John Paul Giesy Jr. is an American ecotoxicologist. He is a Emeritus Distinguished Professor and former Canada Research Chair in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Saskatchewan. Giesy was credited with being the first scientist to discover toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl [PFAS] chemicals in the environment. His discoveries also include the photo-enhanced toxicity and the presence of perfluorinated chemicals in the environment.
Nancy Gail Love is an American engineer who is the JoAnn Silverstein Distinguished University Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan. She is the former President of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors and a Fellow of the International Water Association and the Water Environment Federation. In 2021 she was awarded the AEESP Frederick George Pohland Medal.
Vivian Faye McNeill is an American atmospheric chemist who is professor of chemical engineering at Columbia University. She leads the University's initiative Clean Air Toolbox for Cities. McNeill provided expert guidance on aerosols and ventilation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Caroline P. Slomp is a professor at Radboud University Nijmegen who is known for her work on elemental cycling in marine environments. She is an elected fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Association for Geochemistry.
Despo C. Fatta-Kassinos is a chemical and environmental engineer, academic and author. She is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the first director of Nireas-International Water Research Center (Nireas-IWRC) at the University of Cyprus (2010–2022). She has been named a Highly Cited Researcher by Web of Science, Clarivate Analytics.
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