Arjun Venkatesan
Associate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
- arjun.venkatesan@njit.edu
- 973-596-5884
- 217 Colton Hall (COLT)
About Me
Dr. Venkatesan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Prior to joining NJIT, he served as the Associate Director for the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology and held a joint appointment in Civil Engineering and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University as a Research Associate Professor. He is currently the director of the Emerging Contaminants Research Laboratory (ECRL) at NJIT, where his team’s research focuses on the occurrence, fate and treatment of emerging contaminants in the environment. Additionally, he develops novel analytical and monitoring approaches to assess human and environmental health risks associated with toxic exposures and drug use. His work has been funded by NSF, US DoD, US DOE, USBR, New York State, and several industry and foundations, and has been featured in media, including National Geographic, PBS programming and the National Institutes of Health, among others.
Education
Ph.D.; Arizona State University; Environmental Engineering; 2013
M.S.; University of Nevada-Las Vegas; Environmental Engineering; 2009
B.Tech.; Anna University; Chemical Engineering; 2007
2026 Fall Courses
CE 701B - MASTER'S THESIS
CE 491 - RESEARCH EXPER-CIVIL ENGR
CE 727 - INDEPENDENT RESEARCH III
ENE 790A - DOCTORAL DISSERT & RES
ENE 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
ENE 705 - CONTAMINANT TREATMENT
CE 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
CE 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
CE 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
ENE 701C - MASTER'S THESIS
CE 490 - CIVIL ENGR PROJECTS
CE 701C - MASTER'S THESIS
ENE 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
ENE 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
CE 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RES
ENE 490 - SENIOR PROJECT
ENE 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT
ENE 701B - MASTER'S THESIS
Past Courses
CE 791: GRADUATE SEMINAR
ENE 262: INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
ENE 360: WATER AND WASTE WATER ENGINEERING
ENE 663: WATER CHEMISTRY
ENE 665: BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT
Research Interests
The Emerging Contaminants Research Laboratory (ECRL) is interested in studying the occurrence, fate, and treatment of emerging contaminants in the natural and built environment. We apply novel analytical and monitoring techniques to assess both human and environmental health risks associated with toxic and harmful substances. We also develop and test novel treatment technologies to reduce exposures to toxic contaminants and improve water quality. For more information visit: https://sites.google.com/view/ecrl-njit/
Journal Article
Arjun K Venkatesan, Benny FG Pycke, Rolf U Halden. "Detection and Occurrence of N-Nitrosamines in Archived Biosolids from the 2006-7 Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey of the US Environmental Protection Agency." Environ Sci Technol (In Press) 2014c doi, vol. 10.
Yuyin Tang, Mian Wang, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Arjun Venkatesan, Xinwei Mao. "Structural and Kinetic Characteristics of 1, 4-Dioxane Degrading Microbial Community Enriched from Uncontaminated Environment." Available at SSRN 4167625.
Paulina Alulema-Pullupaxi, Yi Zhang, Navid B. Saleh, Arjun Venkatesan, Onur G. Apul. 2025. "Analyzing the Release of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Spent Granular Activated Carbons by Standard Leaching Procedures." Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 59, no. 17, pp. 8681-8693.
Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Mian Wang, Patricia M Clyde, Xinwei Mao, Bruce J Brownawell, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2023. "1, 4-Dioxane removal in nitrifying sand filters treating domestic wastewater: Influence of water matrix and microbial inhibitors." Chemosphere, vol. 324, pp. 138304.
Yuyin Tang, Mian Wang, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Arjun K Venkatesan, Xinwei Mao. 2023. "Characterization of 1, 4-dioxane degrading microbial community enriched from uncontaminated soil." Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, vol. 107, no. 2-3, pp. 955--969.
Yi Zhang, Amanda Thomas, Onur Apul, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2023. "Coexisting ions and long-chain per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) inhibit the adsorption of short-chain PFAS by granular activated carbon." Journal of Hazardous Materials, vol. 460, pp. 132378.
Anne-Cooper Doherty, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Qingyu Meng, Yuko Sakano, Abigail E Noble, Kelly A Grant, Adrienne Esposito, Christopher J Gobler, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2023. "Contribution of household and personal care products to 1, 4-dioxane contamination of drinking water." Current Opinion in Environmental Science \& Health, vol. 31, pp. 100414.
Duning Li, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Yi Zhang, Rasel Das, Fahmida Akter, Arjun K Venkatesan, Benjamin S Hsiao. 2023. "Efficient removal of short-chain and long-chain PFAS by cationic nanocellulose." Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 11, no. 18, pp. 9868--9883.
Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Kaushik Londhe, Slavica Grdanovska, Charlie A Cooper, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2023. "Emerging investigator series: low doses of electron beam irradiation effectively degrade 1, 4-dioxane in water within a few seconds." Environmental Science: Water Research \& Technology, vol. 9, no. 9, pp. 2226--2237.
Arjun Venkatesan. 2023. "ENE 262-001: Introduction to Environmental Engineering." .
Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Mian Wang, Deepak Nanjappa, Yi-Ta Lu, Jaymie Meliker, Sean Clouston, Christopher J Gobler, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2023. "Monitoring of over-the-counter (OTC) and COVID-19 treatment drugs complement wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2." Journal of Exposure Science \& Environmental Epidemiology, pp. 1--9.
Joshua C Steele, Xiang-Zhou Meng, Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2022. "Comparative meta-analysis of organic contaminants in sewage sludge from the United States and China." Science of The Total Environment, vol. 821, pp. 153423.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Christopher J Gobler. 2022. "Hydroxyl-radical based advanced oxidation processes can increase perfluoroalkyl substances beyond drinking water standards: Results from a pilot study." Science of The Total Environment, vol. 847, pp. 157577.
Craig S Young, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Laine H Sylvers, Arjun K Venkatesan, Christopher J Gobler. 2022. "The invasive red seaweed, Dasysiphonia japonica, forms harmful algal blooms: Mortality in early life stage fish and bivalves and identification of putative toxins." Harmful Algae, vol. 118, pp. 102294.
Kaushik Londhe, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Carrie A McDonough, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2022. "The Need for Testing Isomer Profiles of Perfluoroalkyl Substances to Evaluate Treatment Processes." Environmental Science \& Technology, vol. 56, no. 22, pp. 15207--15219.
Yuyin Tang, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Harold Walker, Christopher Gobler, Onur Apul, Arjun K Venkatesan, Xinwei Mao. 2021. "Effect of residual H2O2 on the removal of advanced oxidation byproducts by two types of granular activated carbon." Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 106838.
Kaushik Londhe, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Yi Zhang, Slavica Grdanovska, Thomas Kroc, Charlie A Cooper, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2021. "Energy evaluation of electron beam treatment of perfluoroalkyl substances in water: a critical review." ACS ES\&T Engineering, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 827--841.
Duning Li, Kaushik Londhe, Kai Chi, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Arjun K Venkatesan, Benjamin S Hsiao. 2021. "Functionalized bio-adsorbents for removal of perfluoroalkyl substances: A perspective." AWWA Water Science, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. e1258.
Patricia M Clyde, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Roy E Price, Arjun K Venkatesan, Bruce J Brownawell. 2021. "Occurrence and removal of PPCPs from on-site wastewater using nitrogen removing biofilters." Water Research, vol. 206, pp. 117743.
Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Caitlin Asato, Mian Wang, Xinwei Mao, Christopher J Gobler, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2021. "Removal of 1, 4-dioxane during on-site wastewater treatment using nitrogen removing biofilters." Science of the Total Environment, vol. 771, pp. 144806.
Christopher J Gobler, Stuart Waugh, Caitlin Asato, Patricia M Clyde, Samantha C Nyer, Molly Graffam, Bruce Brownawell, Arjun K Venkatesan, Jennifer A Goleski, Roy E Price, others. 2021. "Removing 80\%--90\% of nitrogen and organic contaminants with three distinct passive, lignocellulose-based on-site septic systems receiving municipal and residential wastewater." Ecological Engineering, vol. 161, pp. 106157.
Busra Sonmez Baghirzade, Yi Zhang, James F Reuther, Navid B Saleh, Arjun K Venkatesan, Onur G Apul. 2021. "Thermal regeneration of spent granular activated carbon presents an opportunity to break the forever PFAS cycle." Environmental Science \& Technology, vol. 55, no. 9, pp. 5608--5619.
Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Arjun K Venkatesan, Harold W Walker, Christopher J Gobler. 2020. "Impact of groundwater quality and associated byproduct formation during UV/hydrogen peroxide treatment of 1, 4-dioxane." Water Research, vol. 173, pp. 115534.
Rolf U Halden, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2020. "Moving toward a waste-free circular economy by example of biosolids." Current Opinion in Environmental Science \& Health, vol. 14, pp. A1--A3.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2020. "Using national sewage sludge data for chemical ranking and prioritization." Current Opinion in Environmental Science \& Health, vol. 14, pp. 10--15.
Jing Chen, Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2019. "Alcohol and nicotine consumption trends in three US communities determined by wastewater-based epidemiology." Science of the Total Environment, vol. 656, pp. 174--183.
Adam J Gushgari, Arjun K Venkatesan, Jing Chen, Joshua C Steele, Rolf U Halden. 2019. "Long-term tracking of opioid consumption in two United States cities using wastewater-based epidemiology approach." Water research, vol. 161, pp. 171--180.
Wenhui Gan, Arjun K Venkatesan, Onur G Apul, Francois Perreault, Xin Yang, Paul Westerhoff. 2018. "Bromide and Other Halide Ion Removal From Drinking Waters Using Silver-Amended Coagulation." Journal-American Water Works Association, vol. 110, no. 6, pp. 13--24.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Robert B Reed, Sungyun Lee, Xiangyu Bi, David Hanigan, Yu Yang, James F Ranville, Pierre Herckes, Paul Westerhoff. 2018. "Detection and sizing of Ti-containing particles in recreational waters using single particle ICP-MS." Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology, vol. 100, pp. 120--126.
Lisa Keri Dietrich. 2018. "Low Removal of As (V) and Cr (VI) by POU Devices Until Enabled with Selective Ion Exchange Media." .
Arjun K Venkatesan, Wenhui Gan, Harsh Ashani, Pierre Herckes, Paul Westerhoff. 2018. "Size exclusion chromatography with online ICP-MS enables molecular weight fractionation of dissolved phosphorus species in water samples." Water research, vol. 133, pp. 264--271.
Hansa Y Magee, Megan M Maurer, April Cobos, Benny FG Pycke, Arjun K Venkatesan, Daniel Magee, Matthew Scotch, Rolf U Halden. 2018. "US nationwide reconnaissance of ten infrequently monitored antibiotics in municipal biosolids." Science of the Total Environment, vol. 643, pp. 460--467.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Rodr\'\iguez, Blanca T, Aurelie R Marcotte, Xiangyu Bi, Jared Schoepf, James F Ranville, Pierre Herckes, Paul Westerhoff. 2018. "Using single-particle ICP-MS for monitoring metal-containing particles in tap water." Environmental Science: Water Research \& Technology, vol. 4, no. 12, pp. 1923--1932.
Adam J Gushgari, Rolf U Halden, Arjun K Venkatesan. 2017. "Occurrence of N-nitrosamines in US freshwater sediments near wastewater treatment plants." Journal of hazardous materials, vol. 323, pp. 109--115.
Hansa Magee, Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf Halden. 2016. "Erratum to: Does the Recent Growth of Aquaculture Create Antibiotic Resistance Threats Different from those Associated with Land Animal Production in Agriculture?." AAPS Journal, pp. 1.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Abdul-Hakeem M Hamdan, Vanessa M Chavez, Jasmine D Brown, Rolf U Halden. 2016. "Mass balance model for sustainable phosphorus recovery in a US wastewater treatment plant." Journal of environmental quality, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 84--89.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2016. "Modeling the pH-mediated extraction of ionizable organic contaminants to improve the quality of municipal sewage sludge destined for land application." Science of The Total Environment, vol. 550, pp. 736--741.
Xiang-Zhou Meng, Arjun K Venkatesan, Yi-Lin Ni, Joshua C Steele, Ling-Ling Wu, Anders Bignert, Bergman, \AAke, Rolf U Halden. 2016. "Organic contaminants in Chinese sewage sludge: a meta-analysis of the literature of the past 30 years." Environmental science \& technology, vol. 50, no. 11, pp. 5454--5466.
Hansa Y Done, Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2015. "Does the recent growth of aquaculture create antibiotic resistance threats different from those associated with land animal production in agriculture?." The AAPS journal, vol. 17, pp. 513--524.
Xiaohua Yu, Jingchuan Xue, Hong Yao, Qian Wu, Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden, Kurunthachalam Kannan. 2015. "Occurrence and estrogenic potency of eight bisphenol analogs in sewage sludge from the US EPA targeted national sewage sludge survey." Journal of Hazardous Materials, vol. 299, pp. 733--739.
Jingchuan Xue, Arjun K Venkatesan, Qian Wu, Rolf U Halden, Kurunthachalam Kannan. 2015. "Occurrence of bisphenol a diglycidyl ethers (BADGEs) and novolac glycidyl ethers (NOGEs) in archived biosolids from the US EPA’s targeted national sewage sludge survey." Environmental Science \& Technology, vol. 49, no. 11, pp. 6538--6544.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Hansa Y Done, Rolf U Halden. 2015. "United States National Sewage Sludge Repository at Arizona State University—a new resource and research tool for environmental scientists, engineers, and epidemiologists." Environmental Science and Pollution Research, vol. 22, pp. 1577--1586.
Arjun Venkatesan, Rolf Halden. 2015. "Effective Strategies for Monitoring and Regulating Chemical Mixtures and Contaminants Sharing Pathways of Toxicity." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 12, no. 9, pp. 10549-10557.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2014. "Brominated flame retardants in US biosolids from the EPA national sewage sludge survey and chemical persistence in outdoor soil mesocosms." Water research, vol. 55, pp. 133--142.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2014. "Contribution of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs) to the toxic equivalency of dioxin-like compounds in archived biosolids from the US EPA’s 2001 National Sewage Sludge Survey." Environmental Science \& Technology, vol. 48, no. 18, pp. 10843--10849.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Benny FG Pycke, Rolf U Halden. 2014. "Detection and occurrence of N-nitrosamines in archived biosolids from the targeted national sewage sludge survey of the US Environmental Protection Agency." Environmental science \& technology, vol. 48, no. 9, pp. 5085--5092.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2014. "Loss and in situ production of perfluoroalkyl chemicals in outdoor biosolids--soil mesocosms." Environmental research, vol. 132, pp. 321--327.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2014. "Wastewater treatment plants as chemical observatories to forecast ecological and human health risks of manmade chemicals." Scientific reports, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 3731.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Rolf U Halden. 2013. "National inventory of alkylphenol ethoxylate compounds in US sewage sludges and chemical fate in outdoor soil mesocosms." Environmental Pollution, vol. 174, pp. 189--193.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Benny FG Pycke, Larry B Barber, Kathy E Lee, Rolf U Halden. 2012. "Occurrence of triclosan, triclocarban, and its lesser chlorinated congeners in Minnesota freshwater sediments collected near wastewater treatment plants." Journal of Hazardous Materials.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Jacimaria R Batista. 2011. "Investigation of factors affecting the bioregeneration process for perchlorate-laden gel-type anion-exchange resin." Bioremediation journal, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 1--11.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Sajjad Ahmad, Walter Johnson, Jacimaria R Batista. 2011. "Salinity reduction and energy conservation in direct and indirect potable water reuse." Desalination, vol. 272, no. 1-3, pp. 120--127.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Sajjad Ahmad, Walter Johnson, Jacimaria R Batista. 2011. "Systems dynamic model to forecast salinity load to the Colorado River due to urbanization within the Las Vegas Valley." Science of the Total Environment, vol. 409, no. 13, pp. 2616--2625.
Arjun K Venkatesan, Mohamadali Sharbatmaleki, Jacimaria R Batista. 2010. "Bioregeneration of perchlorate-laden gel-type anion-exchange resin in a fluidized bed reactor." Journal of Hazardous Materials, vol. 177, no. 1-3, pp. 730--737.
Other
"Aftermath of a Major Firefighting Foam Spill in Brunswick, Maine: Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Downstream Aquatic Environment"
Elsevier BV, 2025.
Elsevier BV, 2025.
"Methods and systems for pH treatment and extraction of leachable resources and pollutants from sludge"
June, 2019.
June, 2019.
"Contaminants of Emerging Concern in US Sewage Sludges and Forecasting of Associated Ecological and Human Health Risks Using Sewage Epidemiology Approaches"
Arizona State University, 2013.
Arizona State University, 2013.
"Investigation of feasibility and potential mechanisms for the bioregeneration of perchlorate laden gel-type anion exchange resin"
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2009.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2009.
Conference Proceeding
"Accumulation of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) by sharks from two contrasting habitats: New York Bight and The Bahamas"
2023.
2023.
"Evaluating the Effects of Antibiotics on the Biological Transformation of Nitrogen and Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products Removal From Onsite Wastewater in Nitrifying Sand Columns"
2022.
2022.
"Evaluation of granular activated carbon performance to remove 1, 4-dioxane degradation byproducts and residual H2O2 from UV/H2O2 treatment system"
2019.
2019.
"Impact of groundwater quality parameters on 1, 4-dioxane removal and associated byproducts formation during UV/hydrogen peroxide advanced oxidation process treatment"
2019.
2019.
"Analytical challenges and alternatives for monitoring opioid consumption in communities using wastewater-based epidemiology"
2018.
2018.
"Laboratory and pilot-scale testing of alternative water treatment technologies for 1, 4-dioxane-contaminated groundwater in Long Island, NY"
2018.
2018.
"Application of urban metabolism metrology to monitor chemical consumption, exposures, and population health in US communities"
2016.
2016.
"Keeping track of environmental dispersion and human exposures to pharmaceuticals and personal care products via sewage analysis"
2016.
2016.
"Recurring US national wastewater treatment plant survey and the Human Health Observatory at Arizona State University"
2016.
2016.
"Modeling the leachability of pH-dependent ionizable organic contaminants from municipal sewage sludge"
2015.
2015.
"Occurrence of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines in freshwater sediments collected near wastewater treatment plants"
2015.
2015.
"Nationwide occurrence, release inventories, and prioritization of emerging contaminants in US sewage sludges: Results from the National Sewage Sludge Repository of Arizona State University"
2014.
2014.
"Occurrence of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines in nationally representative samples of US sewage sludges"
2014.
2014.
"Waste epidemiology: Taking the chemical pulse of a nation at the sewer by example of the United States"
2014.
2014.
"Total dissolved solids contribution to the Colorado river associated with the growth of Las Vegas valley"
2010.
2010.
Technical Report
"Application of electron beam technology to decompose persistent emerging drinking water contaminants: poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and 1,4-Dioxane"
Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), December, 2021.
Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), December, 2021.
Chapter
Arjun K Venkatesan, Jing Chen, Erin Driver, Adam Gushgari, Rolf U Halden. "Assessing the potential to monitor plant-based diet trends in communities using a wastewater-based epidemiology approach." "Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: Estimation of Community Consumption of Drugs and Diets," pp. 187--198. American Chemical Society, 2019.