An alternitive method to evaluate environmental degradation
Chemistry professor testing for caffeine in Florida Keys waterways

Piero Gardinali, FIU assistant professor of Chemistry and faculty member of the Southeast Environmental Research Center, has been testing for caffeine in canals in the Florida Keys in an effort to prove that ailing septic systems are contaminating Monroe County waterways. It is hoped that the research will lead to better environmental management of the fragile ecosystem .

"The beauty of testing for caffeine in the Florida Keys is that it is a place where caffeine is traceable to humans only," said Gardinali. "Animals don't consume it. It isn't present in fertilizers. There are no natural sources of it in the area. But it is present, in relatively high levels, in many products humans consume in large amounts, particularly coffee and soda.

"A regular cup of coffee has a lot of caffeine in it, and so do regular sodas. If we can't finish either one of those drinks or if they become old, what do we do? We dump what's left down the sink," he continued. "It goes through the septic system and, eventually, if it doesn't get degraded, it goes into the ground water and enters the coastal ecosystems."

Occurrence of caffeine in ground and surface water has been sparsely documented since the late 1970s, although not in the Florida Keys. Gardinali said the Keys are the "perfect place" for such testing because they import most of the water they use from the mainland. The used water goes mainly into septic tanks, cesspits, and, in some instances, into the Monroe County sewer system.

Piero Gardinali

Properly treated wastewater shows low levels of caffeine, unlike untreated wastewater. "If we find high levels of caffeine down there, we'll know it's because the septic system is directly affecting the surrounding waters," he explained. "Although caffeine itself is not toxic, if we find it in the waters we may also find other chemical substances and microorganisms that are dangerous to people and wildlife."

Human waste-derived pollution can be assessed by testing for other chemical markers such as coprostanol, a byproduct of degradation of cholesterol, or microbiological analysis. The presence of caffeine is a better way to link all of the data together, explained Gardinali, because unlike other traditional tracers, it moves along with the water.

The availability of methods of detecting caffeine were previously limited, but new technology available at FIU's Advanced Mass Spectrometry Facility (AMSF) has changed all that.

"Our preliminary results in Key Largo and Islamorada are promising and show elevated levels of caffeine in the canals compared with adjacent open waters. If the approach works, it's something that's going to be really valuable and simple to do," said Gardinali. "We just have to see how sucdessful it is compared to the currently available water quality assessment tools."