Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
GeoHEALTH-USGS Newsletter
GeoHEALTH-USGS Newsletter
The GeoHEALTH–USGS Newsletter—published since 2004—provides information on USGS science activities pertinent to safeguarding the health of fish, wildlife, domesticated animals, and people from environmental exposures to contaminants and pathogens.
Featured Science Activities
Featured Science Activities
Learn about our Featured Science Activities through our pages that highlight recent studies, publications, and results.
Filter Total Items: 683
Contaminants of emerging concern in the environment: Where we have been and what does the future hold?
In 1962, Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring alerted the nation to the dangers of manmade chemicals and indiscriminate use of pesticides. DDT was the culprit and its use threatened a variety of wildlife, including the national bird, bald eagles. In 1969, pressured by scientists and the public, the United States banned almost all uses of DDT; however, DDT was just the tip of the chemical iceberg. In
Authors
William A. Battaglin, Dana W. Kolpin, Edward T. Furlong, Susan Glassmeyer, Brett R. Blackwell, Steven Corsi, Michael T. Meyer, Paul M. Bradley
Extreme value-based methods for modeling elk yearly movements
Species range shifts and the spread of diseases are both likely to be driven by extreme movements, but are difficult to statistically model due to their rarity. We propose a statistical approach for characterizing movement kernels that incorporate landscape covariates as well as the potential for heavy-tailed distributions. We used a spliced distribution for distance travelled paired with a resour
Authors
Dhanushi A. Wijeyakulasuriya, Ephraim M. Hanks, Benjamin A. Shaby, Paul C. Cross
Reconnaissance of mixed organic and inorganic chemicals in private and public supply tapwaters at selected residential and workplace sites in the United States
Safe drinking water at the point-of-use (tapwater, TW) is a United States public health priority. Multiple lines of evidence were used to evaluate potential human health concerns of 482 organics and 19 inorganics in TW from 13 (7 public supply, 6 private well self-supply) home and 12 (public supply) workplace locations in 11 states. Only uranium (61.9 μg L–1, private well) exceeded a National Prim
Authors
Paul M. Bradley, Dana W. Kolpin, Kristin M. Romanok, Kelly L. Smalling, Michael J. Focazio, Juliane B. Brown, Mary C. Cardon, Kurt D. Carpenter, Steven R. Corsi, Laura A. DeCicco, Julie E. Dietze, Nicola Evans, Edward T. Furlong, Carrie E. Givens, James L. Gray, Dale W. Griffin, Christopher P. Higgins, Michelle L. Hladik, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Celeste A. Journey, Kathryn Kuivila, Jason R. Masoner, Carrie A. McDonough, Michael T. Meyer, James L. Orlando, Mark J. Strynar, Christopher P. Weis, Vickie S. Wilson
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, California Water Science Center, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Kansas Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, National Water Quality Laboratory
Evaluation of chronic toxicity of sodium chloride or potassium chloride to a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) in water exposures using standard and refined toxicity testing methods
Freshwater mussels are generally underrepresented in toxicity databases used to derive water quality criteria, especially for long‐term exposures. Multiple tests were conducted to determine the chronic toxicity of sodium chloride (NaCl) or potassium chloride (KCl) to a unionid mussel (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea). Initially, a 4‐wk NaCl test and a 4‐wk KCl test were conducted starting with 2‐
Authors
Ning Wang, James L. Kunz, Rebecca A. Dorman, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Jeffery Steevens, Edward J. Hammer, Candice R. Bauer
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
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Energy Resources Program, Environmental Health Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Colorado Water Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Idaho Water Science Center
Effects of persistent energy-related brine contamination on amphibian abundance in national wildlife refuge wetlands
To inform sustainable energy development, it is important to understand the ecological effects of historical and current production practices and the persistence of those effects. The Williston Basin is one of North America's largest oil production areas and overlaps the Prairie Pothole Region, an area densely populated with wetlands that provide important wildlife habitat. Although historical dis
Authors
Blake R. Hossack, Kelly L. Smalling, Chauncey W. Anderson, Todd M. Preston, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, R. Ken Honeycutt
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
Assessment of chronic low‐dose elemental and radiological exposures of biota at the Kanab North uranium mine site in the Grand Canyon watershed
High‐grade U ore deposits are in various stages of exploitation across the Grand Canyon watershed, yet the effects of U mining on ecological and cultural resources are largely unknown. We characterized the concentrations of Al, As, Bi, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Hg, Mo, Ni, Se, Ag, Tl, Th, U, and Zn, gross alpha and beta activities, and U and Th radioisotopes in soil, vegetation (Hesperostipa comata, Art
Authors
Danielle M. Cleveland, Jo Ellen Hinck, Julia S. Lankton
Embryonic effects of an environmentally relevant PCB mixture in the domestic chicken
Studies were conducted to develop methods to assess the effects of a complex mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus). Treatments were administered by egg injection to compare embryonic effects of an environmentally relevant PCB congener mixture in the domestic chicken over a range of doses. Chicken eggs were injected with the PCB mixture with a profi
Authors
Mary Ann Ottinger, Emma T. Lavoie, Mary E. B. Bohannon, Allegra M. Marcel, Anna E. Tschiffely, Kara B. Duffy, Moira A. McKernan, Nichola Thompson, H. Kasen Whitehouse, Kimya Davani, Marci Strauss, Donald E. Tillitt, Joshua Lipton, Karen M. Dean