Urbansky to discuss perchlorate as an environmental contaminant

The Environmental and Water Resource (EWR) seminar series will present Edward Todd Urbansky, chemist and special projects head for the United States Air Force to discuss the environmental hazards of perchlorate on Wednesday, December 6 at 4 p.m. in Aerospace 255. The university community is invited to attend the EWR seminar, hosted by the Department of Civil Engineering in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

Today, ammonium perchlorate and the other perchlorate salts are used in a wide range of applications, including pyrotechnics and fireworks, blasting agents, matches, lubricating oils, textile dye fixing, nuclear reactors, electronic tubes, tanning and finishing leather, rubber manufacturing, electroplating, aluminum refinishing, automobile air bag inflators, paint and enamel production, and pharmaceuticals. The most common use for ammonium perchlorate is in explosives and rocket propellant.
Perchlorate is of concern because it has potential human health effects at low concentrations; it may be widespread in the environment; removing it from water and soil may be costly; and it may have deleterious effects on ecosystems.
Urbansky is a research chemist with the Defense Department's Joint Oil Analysis Program in Pensacola, Fla. Previously, he worked for the Environmental Protection Agency's National Risk Management Research Laboratory in Cincinnati, where he conducted research on drinking water contaminants in the Water Supply and Water Resources Division. Urbansky received his bachelor's from Allegheny College and his doctorate from Purdue University. He has served as an editor for Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Journal of Environmental Management, as well as a proceedings volume Perchlorate in the Environment.

For information about this and other EWR seminars, please visit http://www.eng.auburn.edu/users/clemept/ewr.html