Avner Vengosh
Nicholas Distinguished Professor of Environmental Quality
Professor of Environmental Quality
Research Professor of Global Health
Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Duke Kunshan University
My research aims to link environmental geochemistry and isotope hydrology in order to trace the sources and mechanisms of water contamination and relationships with human health. Current research includes global changes of the chemical and isotopic compositions of water resources due to human intervention and contamination, salinization of water resources in the Middle East and Northern Africa, naturally occurring contaminants (arsenic, fluoride, boron) and radioactivity in water resources, the impact of coal combustion residues on the environment, and the impact of gas drilling and hydro-fracking on the quality of shallow groundwater.
Projects
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Processes Controlling Groundwater Quality and Impacts on Human Health in the Main Ethiopian Rift
Ethiopia
- Investigating Salinity and Radioactivity in Water Resources in Morocco
- Arsenic and Salinity Distribution in Groundwater from the Mekong Delta: Implications for sustainability of water utilization in southern Vietnam
Publications
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Williams GDZ, Vengosh A. Quality of Wastewater from Lithium-Brine Mining. Environmental Science and Technology Letters. 2025 Feb 11;12(2):151–7.Cowan EA, Wang Z, Brachfeld SA, Hageman SJ, Seramur KC, Pearson WF, et al. Role of coal ash morphology and composition in delivery and transport of trace metals in the aquatic environment. Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987). 2024 Dec;363(Pt 1):124982.Williams GDZ, Saltman S, Wang Z, Warren DM, Hill RC, Vengosh A. The potential water quality impacts of hard-rock lithium mining: Insights from a legacy pegmatite mine in North Carolina, USA. The Science of the total environment. 2024 Dec;956:177281.McDevitt B, Tasker TL, Coyte R, Blondes MS, Stewart BW, Capo RC, et al. Utica/Point Pleasant brine isotopic compositions (δ7Li, δ11B, δ138Ba) elucidate mechanisms of lithium enrichment in the Appalachian Basin. The Science of the total environment. 2024 Oct;947:174588.
See more publications at Scholars@Duke