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Publications

Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).

Filter Total Items: 4047

Effect of calcium on the bioavailability of dissolved uranium(VI) in plant roots under circumneutral pH

We integrated field measurements, hydroponic experiments, microscopy, and spectroscopy to investigate the effect of Ca(II) on dissolved U(VI) uptake by plants in 1 mM HCO3– solutions at circumneutral pH. The accumulation of U in plants (3.1–21.3 mg kg–1) from the stream bank of the Rio Paguate, Jackpile Mine, New Mexico served as a motivation for this study. Brassica junceawas the model plant used
Authors
Eliane El Hayek, Chris Torres, Lucia Rodriguez-Freire, Johanna M. Blake, Cherie L. De Vore, Adrian J. Brearley, Michael N. Spilde, Stephen Cabaniss, Abdul-Mehdi S. Ali, José M. Cerrato

Methods used for the collection and analysis of chemical and biological data for the Tapwater Exposure Study, United States, 2016–17

In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Environmental Health Mission Area, initiated the Tapwater Exposure Study as part of an infrastructure project to assess human exposure to potential threats from complex mixtures of contaminants. In the pilot phase (2016), samples were collected from 11 States throughout the United States, and in the second phase (2017), the study focused on the Greater Ch
Authors
Kristin M. Romanok, Dana W. Kolpin, Shannon M. Meppelink, Maria Argos, Juliane B. Brown, Michael J. Devito, Julie E. Dietze, Carrie E. Givens, James L. Gray, Christopher P. Higgins, Michelle L. Hladik, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Keith A. Loftin, R. Blaine McCleskey, Carrie A. McDonough, Michael T. Meyer, Mark J. Strynar, Christopher P. Weis, Vickie S. Wilson, Paul M. Bradley

Concentrations of lead and other inorganic constituents in samples of raw intake and treated drinking water from the municipal water filtration plant and residential tapwater in Chicago, Illinois, and East Chicago, Indiana, July–December 2017

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Environmental Health Mission Area (EHMA) is providing comprehensive science on sources, movement, and transformation of contaminants and pathogens in watershed and aquifer drinking-water supplies and in built water and wastewater infrastructure (referred to as the USGS Water and Wastewater Infrastructure project) in the Greater Chicago Area and elsewhere in the Un
Authors
Kristin M. Romanok, Dana W. Kolpin, Shannon M. Meppelink, Michael J. Focazio, Maria Argos, Mary E. Hollingsworth, R. Blaine McCleskey, Andrea R. Putz, Alan Stark, Christopher P. Weis, Abderrahman Zehraoui, Paul M. Bradley

Understanding the captivity effect on invertebrate communities transplanted into an experimental stream laboratory

Little is known about how design and testing methodologies affect the macroinvertebrate communities that are held captive in mesocosms. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a 32‐d test to determine how seeded invertebrate communities changed once removed from the natural stream and introduced to the laboratory. We evaluated larvae survival and adult emergence in controls from 4 subsequent s
Authors
Travis S. Schmidt, Holly Rogers, Janet L. Miller, Christopher A. Mebane, Laurie S. Balistrieri

Variability of organic carbon content and the retention and release of trichloroethene in the rock matrix of a mudstone aquifer

Contaminants diffusing from fractures into the immobile porosity of the rock matrix are subject to prolonged residence times. Organic contaminants can adsorb onto organic carbonaceous materials in the matrix extending contaminant retention. An investigation of spatial variability of the fraction of organic carbon (foc) is conducted on samples of rock core from seven closely spaced boreholes in a m
Authors
Allen M. Shapiro, Rebecca J. Brenneis

Performance assessments of a novel well design for reducing exposure to bedrock‐derived arsenic

Arsenic in groundwater is a serious problem in New England, particularly for domestic well owners drawing water from bedrock aquifers. The overlying glacial aquifer generally has waters with low arsenic concentrations but is less used because of frequent loss of well water during dry periods and the vulnerability to surface‐sourced bacterial contamination. An alternative, novel design for shallow
Authors
Richard B. Winston, Joseph D. Ayotte

Geochemical conditions and nitrogen transport in nearshore groundwater and the subterranean estuary at a Cape Cod embayment, East Falmouth, Massachusetts, 2013–14

Nitrogen transport and transformation were studied during 2013 to 2014 by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in a subterranean estuary beneath onshore locations on the Seacoast Shores peninsula, a residential area in Falmouth, Massachusetts, served by septic systems and cesspools, and adjacent offshore locations in the Eel River, a saltwater e
Authors
John A. Colman, Denis R. LeBlanc, John K. Böhlke, Timothy D. McCobb, Kevin D. Kroeger, Marcel Belaval, Thomas C. Cambareri, Gillian F. Pirolli, T. Wallace Brooks, Mary E. Garren, Tobias B. Stover, Ann Keeley

Potential toxicity of dissolved metal mixtures (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) to early life stage white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Upper Columbia River, Washington, United States

The Upper Columbia River (UCR) received historical releases of smelter waste resulting in elevated metal concentrations in downstream sediments. Newly hatched white sturgeon hide within the rocky substrate at the sediment–water interface in the UCR for a few weeks before swim-up. Hiding behavior could expose them to metal contaminants, and metal toxicity could contribute to population declines in
Authors
Laurie S. Balistrieri, Christopher A. Mebane, Stephen E. Cox, Holly J. Puglis, Robin Calfee, Ning Wang

Evaluating long-term patterns of decreasing groundwater discharge through a lake-bottom permeable reactive barrier

Identifying and quantifying groundwater exchange is critical when considering contaminant fate and transport at the groundwater/surface-water interface. In this paper, areally distributed temperature and point seepage measurements are used to efficiently assess spatial and temporal groundwater discharge patterns through a glacial-kettle lakebed area containing a zero-valent iron permeable reactive
Authors
Timothy D. McCobb, Martin A. Briggs, Denis R. LeBlanc, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Carole D. Johnson

Temporal and spatial variation in pharmaceutical concentrations in an urban river system

Many studies have quantified pharmaceuticals in the environment, few however, have incorporated detailed temporal and spatial variability due to associated costs in terms of time and materials. Here, we target 33 physico-chemically diverse pharmaceuticals in a spatiotemporal exposure study into the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the wastewater system and the Rivers Ouse and Foss (two diverse riv
Authors
Emily E. Burns, Laura J. Carter, Dana W. Kolpin, Jane Thomas-Oates, Alistair B.A. Boxall

Pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides, and other bioactive contaminants in water, sediment, and tissue from Rocky Mountain National Park, 2012–2013

Pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides, and other bioactive contaminants (BCs) are commonly detected in surface water and bed sediment in urban and suburban areas, but these contaminants are understudied in remote locations. In Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Colorado, USA, BCs may threaten the reproductive success and survival of native aquatic species, benthic communities, and pelagic food w
Authors
William A. Battaglin, Paul M. Bradley, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Celeste A. Journey, Heather L. Walsh, Vicki S. Blazer