Is groundwater flow a source of pharmaceuticals to the Swedish coast?

Groundwater discharging to the coast releases pollution from the continent to the coastal ocean.

While submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is recognized as a critical part of coastal water and nutrient budgets, it remains understudied in many locations globally because it is challenging to quantify.

SGD can also be a transport pathway for contaminants of emerging concern (CECs; e.g., pharmaceuticals, pesticides, industrial chemicals) from coastal aquifers subject to agricultural and urban pressures. Sweden is a global leader in CEC research, environmental impact, and remediation. Yet, SGD has not been considered in Swedish coastal and Baltic Sea water and chemical budgets.

In this project, I will quantify SGD, nutrient, and CEC fluxes at representative field sites to the Swedish coast using field- and lab-based geochemical tracer techniques. These results will inform a subsequent machine learning model to predict SGD, nutrient, and CEC fluxes.

This research will result in SGD water, nutrient, and CEC discharge rates, which will feed existing hydrological models and budgets, leading to improved water quality management.

The project will inform stakeholders invested in coastal water quality and marine ecosystem health, as well as the Swedish public using the Baltic Sea recreationally.