In the United States, drinking water is regulated by the EPA under the auspice of the Safe Drinking Water act of 1944, and is generally considered to be safe. This assumption came into question with the ‘Flint Water Crisis,’ which exposed high levels of lead (Pb) in the Flint, Michigan water supply. The water samples that led to this discovery were collected by ‘Citizen Scientists’ – Flint Residents – working with scientists at Virginia Tech who analyzed the samples for metal content using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and publicized this important public health issue. Inspired by these efforts, a public water testing outreach effort was developed by our laboratory that involved ‘student scientists’ testing the water in the Baltimore Metro area for toxic metals. Our outreach effort combined analytical chemistry (including ICP-MS), with public health and social and environmental justice issues and is designed such that ‘student scientists’ at various stages of their academic careers (middle school, high school and college) can participate. The approach taken along with the data obtained for Baltimore City will be presented.

Minding your metals: Student led activity to measure toxic and beneficial metals in drinking water in Baltimore city

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.