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 studies, publications, and results.
Filter Total Items: 4094
An overview of bioaerosol load and health impacts associated with dust storms: A focus on the Middle East
Dust storms are an important environmental problem worldwide. The main sources of dust storms include the Sahara, the Middle East, and central and northeastern Asia. Dust storms originating from these regions can be dispersed across oceans and in some cases globally. They occur throughout the year and vary in frequency and intensity. The biological agents (e.g., fungi, bacteria and viruses) and th
Authors
Zahra Soleimani, Pari Teymouri, Ali Darvishi Boloorani, Alireza Mesdaghinia, Nick Middleton, Dale W. Griffin
Phytoplankton community and algal toxicity at a recurring bloom in Sullivan Bay, Kabetogama Lake, Minnesota, USA
Kabetogama Lake in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA suffers from recurring late summer algal blooms that often contain toxin-producing cyanobacteria. Previous research identified the toxin microcystin in blooms, but we wanted to better understand how the algal and cyanobacterial community changed throughout an open water season and how changes in community structure were related to toxin pr
Authors
Victoria Christensen, Ryan P. Maki, Erin A. Stelzer, Jack E. Norland, Eakalak Khan
Reactive transport modeling to understand attenuation of arsenic concentrations in anoxic groundwater during Fe(II) oxidation by nitrate
A previously published field-experimental investigation showed that injection of nitrate in anoxic groundwater that contained aqueous and sediment-bound Fe(II) diminished concentrations of As(V) and As(III) to below drinking-water limits. In the current study, reactive transport modeling confirmed that the observed attenuation was consistent with oxidation of Fe(II) by nitrate, leading to precipit
Authors
Douglas B. Kent, Richard L. Smith, James Jamieson, John K. Böhlke, Deborah A. Repert, Henning Prommer
Draft genome sequence of the Mn(II)-oxidizing bacterium Oxalobacteraceae sp. AB_14
Biological Mn(II) oxidation produces reactive manganese oxides that help to mitigate metal contamination in the environment. Here we present the genome of Oxalobacteraceae sp. AB_14, a species of Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) notable for its ability to catalyze Mn oxidation at low pH (5.5).
Authors
Timothy Bushman, Denise M. Akob, Tsing Bohu, Andrea Beyer, Tanja Woyke, Nicole Shapiro, Alla Lapidus, Hans-Peter Klenk, Kirsten Küsel
13C and 15N NMR identification of product compound classes from aqueous and solid phase photodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene
Abstract
Photolysis is one of the main transformation pathways for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) released into the environment. Upon exposure to sunlight, TNT is known to undergo both oxidation and reduction reactions with release of nitrite, nitrate, and ammonium ions, followed by condensation reactions of the oxidation and reduction products. In this study, compound classes of transformation prod
Authors
Kevin A. Thorn
Competitive interactions among H, CU, and Zn ion moderate aqueous uptake of Cu and Zn by an aquatic insect
The absorption of aqueous copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) by aquatic insects, a group widely used to assess water quality, is unresolved. This study examined interactions among Cu, Zn, and protons that potentially moderate Cu and Zn uptake by the acid-tolerant stonefly Zapada sp. Saturation uptake kinetics was imposed to identify competitive mechanisms. Decreasing pH reduced the maximum transport capaci
Authors
Daniel J. Cain, Marie Noële Croteau, Christopher C. Fuller
Spatial fingerprinting of biogenic and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds in an arid unsaturated zone
Subsurface volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can pose risks to human and environmental health and mediate biological processes. VOCs have both anthropogenic and biogenic origins, but the relative importance of these sources has not been explored in subsurface environments. This study synthesizes 17 years of VOC data from the Amargosa Desert Research Site (ADRS) with the goal of improving understan
Authors
Christopher Green, Wentai Luo, Christopher H. Conaway, Karl B. Haase, Ronald J. Baker, Brian J. Andraski
Influence of dissolved organic carbon on the acute toxicity of copper and zinc to White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and a Cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia)
We conducted acute lethality tests with white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and Ceriodaphnia dubia exposed to copper and zinc at dissolved organic carbon concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 5.5 mg/L. Dissolved organic carbon had minimal effects on zinc toxicity but did have a protective effect on acute copper toxicity, which was equal to that predicted by the copper biotic ligand model (BLM).
Authors
Chris D. Ivey, John M. Besser, Jeffery Steevens, Michael Walther, Vanessa Melton
De facto water reuse: Bioassay suite approach delivers depth and breadth in endocrine active compound detection
Although endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) have been detected in wastewater and surface waters worldwide using a variety of in vitro effects-based screening tools, e.g. bioassays, few have examined potential attenuation of environmental contaminants by both natural (sorption, degradation, etc) and anthropogenic (water treatment practices) processes. This study used several bioassays and quanti
Authors
Elizabeth K Medlock Kakaley, Brett R. Blackwell, Mary C. Cardon, Justin M. Conley, Nicola Evans, David J. Feifarek, Edward Furlong, Susan T. Glassmeyer, L. Earl Jr. Gray, Phillip C. Hartig, Dana W. Kolpin, Marc A. Mills, Laura Rosenblum, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Vickie S. Wilson
Geophysical mapping of plume discharge to surface water at a crude oil spill site: Inversion versus machine learning
The interpretation of geophysical survey results to answer hydrologic, engineering, and geologic questions is critical to diverse problems for management of water, energy, and mineral resources. Although geophysical images provide valuable qualitative insight into subsurface architecture and conditions, translating geophysical images into quantitative information (e.g., saturation, concentration,
Authors
Neil Terry, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, John W. Lane, Jared J. Trost, Barbara A. Bekins
Examining the extraction efficiency of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter in contaminated groundwater plumes
The extraction efficiency of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) was examined for groundwater samples from an aquifer contaminated with crude oil. Four different types of extraction were used to determine which method is best suited for the analysis of potentially toxic petroleum-derived DOM. The four types were a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) with dichloromethane (EPA method 3510C),
Authors
Phoebe Zito, Rana Ghannam, Barbara A. Bekins, David C. Podgorski
De facto reuse and disinfection by-products in drinking water systems in the Shenandoah River watershed
De facto reuse is increasingly being studied among the variety of stressors that are relevant to drinking water systems that obtain their source water from surface waters. De facto reuse may influence the levels and types of precursors relevant to formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in surface water systems. DBPs such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) have been associa
Authors
Richard J Weisman, Larry B. Barber, Jennifer Rapp, Celso M Ferreira