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Chemist to speak on safety of drinking water Oct. 23 |
| By
Krista M. Hayes |
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Oct 20, 2006 |
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As part of its “Frontiers in Chemistry Series,” The University of Toledo’s Department of Chemistry will host a lecture by distinguished professor Dr. Purnendu (Sandy) Dasgupta on Monday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 5 p.m. in Bowman-Oddy Laboratories Room 1053 on Main Campus.
The title of Dasgupta’s lecture is “Perchlorate, Wherefrom, Wherein and Where Do We Go From Here?”
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| Dasgupta |
According to Dr. Jared Anderson, UT assistant professor of chemistry, Dasgupta will discuss the rationale behind public interest in perchlorate.
“Perchlorate, which was once regarded as a harmless, essentially nontoxic anion, may now be regulated to a maximum permissible level of a few parts per billion in water,” Anderson said. “The perchlorate ion competes with iodine, which is essential for proper thyroid function in adults and for neural development in infants.”
In addition, Dasgupta will describe new analytical methods developed by his research group that have increased the sensitivity for perchlorate determination. He also will discuss the major sources of perchlorate and how iodine intake has steadily decreased in the United States and is imperative for understanding the potential impact of perchlorate.
“Professor Dasgupta was chosen to speak at UT because he is one of the most published and cited environmental analytical chemists in the world,” Anderson said.
Dasgupta has taught chemistry at Texas Tech University for 25 years and has held the Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professorship for more than a decade. In 2007, he will become the chemistry department chair at the University of Texas at Arlington. He is the recipient of the Traylor Creativity Award from Dow Chemical, the Benedetti-Pichler Award from the American Microhemical Society, and the 2004-05 Regional Scientist of the Year Award of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation.
Dasgupta’s research interests include measurement of trace atmospheric species and atmospheric chemistry, air pollution toxicology, automated intelligent analyzers, microfabricated sensors and instrumentation, thin-film flow devices and sensors, automated process analyzers for the chemical industry, novel approaches to ionic analysis and, most recently, breath analysis for clinical diagnostics and perchlorate in the environment.
Two of the key perchlorate-related papers from Dasgupta’s research group appeared in Environmental Science and Technology last year. One was selected by the editors as the best science paper of the year.
“Professor Dasgupta’s lecture illustrates how the development of sensitive analytical methods and instrumentation can be used to uncover species in the environment that were once considered to be inert and harmless,” Anderson said. “His lecture topic nicely illustrates the need for advanced research to comprehensively understand problems of a chemical and biological nature.”
For more information on the free, public lecture, contact Anderson at 419.530.1508 or jared.anderson@utoledo.edu.
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