title: Molecular markers for identifying municipal, domestic and agricultural sources of organic matter in natural waters.
abstract: Molecular markers can be used to determine the sources of organic pollution in water. This review summarizes progress made during the last two decades in identifying reliable molecular markers to distinguish pollution from sewage, animal production, and other sources. Two artificial sweeteners, sucralose and acesulfame-K, are sufficiently stable to be molecular markers and easily associated with domestic wastewater. Waste from different animal species may be distinguished by profiling fecal sterols and bile acids. Other markers which have been evaluated, including caffeine, detergent components, and compounds commonly leached from landfills are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN, USA. Electronic address: jharwood@tntech.edu.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Harwood
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000032:analysis; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013261:Sterols / Q000032:analysis; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D012722:Sewage; D013261:Sterols; D013549:Sweetening Agents; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bile acids; DOC; Fecal sterols; Molecular markers; Sweeteners; Water pollution