Irwin Suffet

Professor
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Environmental Science and Engineering Program
UCLA Pub Hlth-Envir Hlth Sci, Envir Sci Engr
BOX 951772, 46-081B CHS
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772
Campus mailcode: 177220
Tel: 310-206-8230
Fax: 310-206-3358
msuffet@ucla.edu
portal.ctrl.ucla.edu/sph/institution/personnel?personnel%5fid=214157

Area of Expertise: Water

Dr. Suffet is Professor of Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) and a core member of the Environmental Science and Engineering Program housed in the EHS Department. He received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Brooklyn College (1961), his M.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Maryland (1964), and his Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Chemistry from Rutgers University (1968). Dr. Suffet joined UCLA in 1991 after 21 years experience at the Department of Chemistry and the Environmental Studies Institute at Drexel University where he was the P. W. Purdom Professor of Environmental Chemistry.

Dr. Suffet has published more than 160 research papers and co-edited eight research treatises. He is the 1983 recipient of the F. J. Zimmerman Environmental Science Award of the American Chemical Society and the 2001 A. P. Black Award for lifetime achievement in drinking water quality research from the American Water Works Association. Dr. Suffet teaches on topics related to water quality including the source, transport, fate and treatment of organic compounds in aquatic systems, and analytical and environmental chemistry.

Current Research

Professor Suffet's research emphasizes chemical analysis and elucidation of underlying mechanisms of how organic compounds that are hazardous or cause off-odors in the environment interact in natural aquatic or water treatment systems.

Current research interests include: (1) development of new analytical methods for trace organic compounds in aquatic systems, such as nitrosoamine, pharmaceuticals, and personnel care products; (2) the effect of natural organic matter on contaminants transport in surface water and sediments (e.g., PCB's and pesticides); (3) non-point source runoff of hazardous compounds, particularly polyaromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals; (4) treatment of drinking water for taste and odor compounds and EPA candidate contaminant compounds by advanced oxidation, activated carbon, and membranes; and (5) chemistry of wastewater reclamation related to non-potable and potable reuse, including the fouling of membranes by natural organic matter.