Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
Filter Total Items: 4094
Bioremediation in fractured rock: 1. Modeling to inform design, monitoring, and expectations
Field characterization of a trichloroethene (TCE) source area in fractured mudstones produced a detailed understanding of the geology, contaminant distribution in fractures and the rock matrix, and hydraulic and transport properties. Groundwater flow and chemical transport modeling that synthesized the field characterization information proved critical for designing bioremediation of the source ar
Authors
Claire R. Tiedeman, Allen M. Shapiro, Paul A. Hsieh, Thomas E. Imbrigiotta, Daniel J. Goode, Pierre Lacombe, Mary F. DeFlaun, Scott R. Drew, Carole D. Johnson, John H. Williams, Gary P. Curtis
Bioremediation in fractured rock: 2. Mobilization of chloroethene compounds from the rock matrix
A mass balance is formulated to evaluate the mobilization of chlorinated ethene compounds (CE) from the rock matrix of a fractured mudstone aquifer under pre- and postbioremediation conditions. The analysis relies on a sparse number of monitoring locations and is constrained by a detailed description of the groundwater flow regime. Groundwater flow modeling developed under the site characterizatio
Authors
Allen M. Shapiro, Claire R. Tiedeman, Thomas E. Imbrigiotta, Daniel J. Goode, Paul A. Hsieh, Pierre Lacombe, Mary F. DeFlaun, Scott R. Drew, Gary P. Curtis
Information to prevent human exposure to disease agents associated with wildlife—U.S. Geological Survey circulars on zoonotic disease
The U.S. Geological Survey in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others have published reports with information about geographic distribution, specific pathogens, disease ecology, and strategies to avoid exposure and infection for a selection of zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans, such as rabies and plague. This summar
Authors
Carol U. Meteyer, Gail Moede Rogall
Vibrio population dynamics in Mid-Atlantic surface waters during Saharan dust events
Vibrio is a cosmopolitan genus of marine bacteria, highly investigated in coastal and estuarine environments. Vibrio have also been isolated from pelagic waters, yet very little is known about the ecology of these oligotrophic species. In this study we examined the relative change in bacterial abundance and more specifically the dynamics of Vibrio in the tropical North Atlantic in response to the
Authors
Jason R. Westrich, Dale W. Griffin, Douglas L. Westphal, Erin K. Lipp
Metabarcoding of environmental DNA samples to explore the use of uranium mine containment ponds as a water source for wildlife
Understanding how anthropogenic impacts on the landscape affect wildlife requires a knowledge of community assemblages. Species surveys are the first step in assessing community structure, and recent molecular applications such as metabarcoding and environmental DNA analyses have been proposed as an additional and complementary wildlife survey method. Here, we test eDNA metabarcoding as a survey t
Authors
Katy E. Klymus, Catherine A. Richter, Nathan Thompson, Jo Ellen Hinck
A mass balance approach to investigate arsenic cycling in a petroleum plume
Natural attenuation of organic contaminants in groundwater can give rise to a series of complex biogeochemical reactions that release secondary contaminants to groundwater. In a crude oil contaminated aquifer, biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons is coupled with the reduction of ferric iron (Fe(III)) hydroxides in aquifer sediments. As a result, naturally occurring arsenic (As) adsorbed to Fe(
Authors
Brady A. Ziegler, Madeline E. Schreiber, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Ng. G.-H. Crystal
Estimating virus occurrence using Bayesian modeling in multiple drinking water systems of the United States
Drinking water treatment plants rely on purification of contaminated source waters to provide communities with potable water. One group of possible contaminants are enteric viruses. Measurement of viral quantities in environmental water systems are often performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or quantitative PCR (qPCR). However, true values may be underestimated due to challenges involved
Authors
Eunice A. Varughese, Nichole E Brinkman, Emily M Anneken, Jennifer S Cashdollar, G. Shay Fout, Edward T. Furlong, Dana W. Kolpin, Susan T. Glassmeyer, Scott P Keely
Estimating the high-arsenic domestic-well population in the conterminous United States
Arsenic concentrations from 20 450 domestic wells in the U.S. were used to develop a logistic regression model of the probability of having arsenic >10 μg/L (“high arsenic”), which is presented at the county, state, and national scales. Variables representing geologic sources, geochemical, hydrologic, and physical features were among the significant predictors of high arsenic. For U.S. Census bloc
Authors
Joseph D. Ayotte, Laura Medalie, Sharon L. Qi, Lorraine C. Backer, Bernard T. Nolan
A comparison of four porewater sampling methods for metal mixtures and dissolved organic carbon and the implications for sediment toxicity evaluations
Evaluations of sediment quality conditions are commonly conducted using whole-sediment chemistry analyses but can be enhanced by evaluating multiple lines of evidence, including measures of the bioavailable forms of contaminants. In particular, porewater chemistry data provide information that is directly relevant for interpreting sediment toxicity data. Various methods for sampling porewater for
Authors
Danielle M. Cleveland, William G. Brumbaugh, Donald D. MacDonald
Uptake and disposition of select pharmaceuticals by bluegill exposed at constant concentrations in a flow-through aquatic exposure system
The increasing use of pharmaceuticals has led to their subsequent input into and release from wastewater treatment plants, with corresponding discharge into surface waters that may subsequently exert adverse effects upon aquatic organisms. Although the distribution of pharmaceuticals in surface water has been extensively studied, the details of uptake, internal distribution, and kinetic processing
Authors
Jian-Liang Zhao, Edward T. Furlong, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Dana W. Kolpin, Kyle L. Bird, David J. Feifarek, Eric A. Schwab, Guang-Guo Ying
Effects of an extreme flood on trace elements in river water—From urban stream to major river basin
Major floods adversely affect water quality through surface runoff, groundwater discharge, and damage to municipal water infrastructure. Despite their importance, it can be difficult to assess the effects of floods on streamwater chemistry because of challenges collecting samples and the absence of baseline data. This study documents water quality during the September 2013 extreme flood in the Sou
Authors
Larry B. Barber, Suzanne S. Paschke, William A. Battaglin, Chris Douville, Kevin C. Fitzgerald, Steffanie H. Keefe, David A. Roth, Alan M. Vajda
Evidence of coupled carbon and iron cycling at a hydrocarbon-contaminated site from time lapse magnetic susceptibility
Conventional characterization and monitoring of hydrocarbon (HC) pollution is often expensive and time-consuming. Magnetic susceptibility (MS) has been proposed as an inexpensive, long-term monitoring proxy of the degradation of HC. We acquired repeated down hole MS logging data in boreholes at a HC-contaminated field research site in Bemidji, MN, USA. The MS data were analyzed in conjunction with
Authors
Anders L. Lund, Lee D. Slater, Estella A. Atekwana, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Barbara A. Bekins