STONY BROOK, N.Y., February 6, 2004 — Mark J. Benotti, a doctoral student at the Marine Sciences Research Center (MSRC) at Stony Brook University, received the sixth annual Evan R. Liblit Memorial Scholarship award on Friday, November 14 at the annual “America Recycles Day” breakfast held at the New York Institute of Technology’s Culinary Arts Center in Central Islip.
The $2,000 award, presented by Dennis J. Lynch, chairman of the Liblit Memorial Scholarship Fund, will help support Mr. Benotti’s work which uses liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS) to look at trace levels of pharmaceuticals entering Long Island groundwater via wastewater recharge. Benefits of LC-TOF-MS include analyte confirmation using accurate mass measurement as well as full spectral sensitivity. LC-TOF-MS proves to be more selective and sensitive than traditional single quadrupole approaches (operated in selected ion monitoring mode), and compares well with triple quadrupole approaches (operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode).
Long Island provides a nearly ideal study site for the behavior of pharmaceuticals in groundwater. It has a well-studied groundwater system which receives significant recharge from wastewater. The pharmaceuticals of interest include a wide range of compounds varying greatly in polarity. There are almost thirty analytes of interest including non-prescription (e.g., caffeine), prescription (e.g., Prozac), and antibiotic compounds (e.g., sulfamethoxazole), as well as certain human metabolites. Typically, concentrations are low (parts per trillion), and likely do not pose a human or ecological health threat. Understanding their occurrence, fate and transport may ultimately lead to understanding pharmaceutical “fingerprints” which could infer sources of contamination as well as age and degree of treatment.
The Liblit scholarship was established in 1997 to support graduate students at MSRC and its Waste Reduction and Management Institute (WRMI) who work on environmental management problems. Evan Liblit served on the WRMI faculty and played a pioneering role in developing recycling programs on Long Island and recycling policies for New York State. A West Islip resident, he died in 1995, at the age of 46.
The guest speaker was Peter A. Scully, regional director of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Mr. Scully conveyed his remembrances of Evan and also discussed the status of recycling and waste management on Long Island.
The first annual Environmental Stewardship Awards of Long Island were presented by Dennis Lynch to:
* Canon USA Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.,
* Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.,
* Long Island Compost Corporation, and
* The Long Island Power Authority.
The Environmental Stewardship Awards of Long Island are annually presented to individuals, corporations, organizations or institutions that have implemented outstanding and/or creative programs and technologies that further waste recycling and/or reduction; environmental conservation and protection initiatives and are environmentally sound, economically feasible and sustainable.
Sponsors of the Liblit Breakfast include the Association of Long Island Recycling Officials (ALIRO), Bimasco, Inc., Cashin Associates, Covanta Energy, The Glass Family, The Liblit Family, Long Island Power Authority, L.K. McLean Associates, New York State Association for Reuse, Reduction, and Recycling (NYSAR3), New York Association for Solid Waste Management, RRT Design & Construction, USA Polycoat, Inc., Verizon.
