Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 683

Spatial modeling of wild bird risk factors to investigate highly pathogenic A(H5N1) avian influenza virus transmission

One of the longest-persisting avian influenza viruses in history, highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) A(H5N1), continues to evolve after 18 years, advancing the threat of a global pandemic. Wild waterfowl (family Anatidae), are reported as secondary transmitters of HPAIV, and primary reservoirs for low-pathogenic avian influenza viruses, yet spatial inputs for disease risk modeling for
Authors
Diann J. Prosser, Laura L. Hungerford, R. Michael Erwin, Mary Ann Ottinger, John Y. Takekawa, Scott H. Newman, Xianming Xiao, Erie C. Ellis

Clarifying beliefs underlying hunter intentions to support a ban on lead shot

Shot from hunting adds toxic lead to environments worldwide. Existing lead shot regulations have been instituted with little understanding of hunter beliefs and attitudes. This study applied the Theory of Reasoned Action, using a multilevel, multivariate approach, to clarify how positive and negative beliefs relate to attitudes about a ban on lead shot. Structure coefficients and commonality analy
Authors
Susan A. Schroeder, David C. Fulton, Kathy Doncarlos

Mercury accumulation and the mercury-PCB-sex interaction in summer flounder

Patterns in the relative differences in contaminant concentrations between the sexes of mature fish may reveal important behavioral and physiological differences between the sexes. We determined whole-fish total mercury (Hg) concentrations in 23 female summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) and 27 male summer flounder from New Jersey coastal waters. To estimate the change in Hg concentration due
Authors
Charles P. Madenjian, Olaf P. Jensen, David P. Krabbenhoft, John F. DeWild, Jacob M. Ogorek, Anthony R. Vastano

Mercury accumulation, and the mercury-PCB-sex interaction, in lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)

We determined whole-fish Hg concentrations of 26 female and 34 male adult lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) from northern Lake Huron captured during November 2010. Subsampling from these 60 fish, Hg concentration was also determined in both the somatic tissue and ovaries (n=5), while methylmercury (MeHg) concentration was determined in whole fish (n=18). Bioenergetics modeling was used to as
Authors
Charles P. Madenjian, Mark P. Ebener, David P. Krabbenhoft

Paying the pipers: Mitigating the impact of anticoagulant rodenticides on predators and scavengers

Anticoagulant rodenticides, mainly second-generation forms, or SGARs, dominate the global market for rodent control. Introduced in the 1970s to counter genetic resistance in rodent populations to first-generation compounds such as warfarin, SGARs are extremely toxic and highly effective killers. However, their tendency to persist and accumulate in the body has led to the widespread contamination o
Authors
John E. Elliott, Barnett A. Rattner, Richard F. Shore, Nico W. van den Brink

Genomics reveals historic and contemporary transmission dynamics of a bacterial disease among wildlife and livestock

Whole-genome sequencing has provided fundamental insights into infectious disease epidemiology, but has rarely been used for examining transmission dynamics of a bacterial pathogen in wildlife. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), outbreaks of brucellosis have increased in cattle along with rising seroprevalence in elk. Here we use a genomic approach to examine Brucella abortus evolution, c
Authors
Pauline L. Kamath, Jeffrey T. Foster, Kevin P. Drees, Gordon Luikart, Christine Quance, Neil J. Anderson, P. Ryan Clarke, Eric Cole, Mark L. Drew, William H. Edwards, Jack C. Rhyan, John J. Treanor, Rick L. Wallen, Patrick J. White, Suelee Robbe-Austerman, Paul C. Cross

Effect of diet quality on chronic toxicity of aqueous lead to the amphipod Hyalella azteca

The authors investigated the chronic toxicity of aqueous Pb to the amphipod Hyalella azteca (Hyalella) in 42-d tests using 2 different diets: 1) the yeastþcereal leafþtrout pellet (YCT) diet, fed at the uniform low ration used in standard methods for sediment toxicity tests; and 2) a new diet of diatomsþTetraMin flakes (DT), fed at increasing rations over time, that has been optimized for use in H
Authors
John M. Besser, Chris D. Ivey, William G. Brumbaugh, Christopher G. Ingersoll

Spatial and temporal patterns of mercury concentrations in freshwater fish across the Western United States and Canada

Methylmercury contamination of fish is a global threat to environmental health. Mercury (Hg) monitoring programs are valuable for generating data that can be compiled for spatially broad syntheses to identify emergent ecosystem properties that influence fish Hg bioaccumulation. Fish total Hg (THg) concentrations were evaluated across the Western United States (US) and Canada, a region defined by e
Authors
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman, James J. Willacker, Michael T. Tate, Michelle A. Lutz, Jacob Fleck, A. Robin Stewart, James G. Wiener, David C. Evers, Jesse M. Lepak, Jay A. Davis, Colleen Flanagan Pritz

“One Health” or three? Publication silos among the One Health disciplines

The One Health initiative is a global effort fostering interdisciplinary collaborations to address challenges in human, animal, and environmental health. While One Health has received considerable press, its benefits remain unclear because its effects have not been quantitatively described. We systematically surveyed the published literature and used social network analysis to measure interdiscipl
Authors
Kezia Manlove, Josephine G Walker, Meggan E. Craft, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Maxwell B. Joseph, Ryan S. Miller, Pauline Nol, Kelly A. Patyk, Daniel O'Brian, Daniel P. Walsh, Paul C. Cross

Avian mercury exposure and toxicological risk across western North America: A synthesis

Methylmercury contamination of the environment is an important issue globally, and birds are useful bioindicators for mercury monitoring programs. The available data on mercury contamination of birds in western North America were synthesized. Original data from multiple databases were obtained and a literature review was conducted to obtain additional mercury concentrations. In total, 29219 origi
Authors
Joshua T. Ackerman, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Mark P. Herzog, C. Alex Hartman, Sarah H. Peterson, David C. Evers, Allyson K. Jackson, John E. Elliott, Stacy S. Vander Pol, Colleen E. Bryan

Hg concentrations in fish from coastal waters of California and Western North America

The State of California conducted an extensive and systematic survey of mercury (Hg) in fish from the California coast in 2009 and 2010. The California survey sampled 3483 fish representing 46 species at 68 locations, and demonstrated that methylHg in fish presents a widespread exposure risk to fish consumers. Most of the locations sampled (37 of 68) had a species with an average concentration abo
Authors
Jay Davis, John Ross, Shira Bezalel, Lawrence Sim, Autumn Bonnema, Gary Ichikawa, Wes Heim, Kenneth C Schiff, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman
Was this page helpful?