Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
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Effects of the antimicrobial sulfamethoxazole on groundwater bacterial enrichment
The effects of “trace” (environmentally relevant) concentrations of the antimicrobial agent sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on the growth, nitrate reduction activity, and bacterial composition of an enrichment culture prepared with groundwater from a pristine zone of a sandy drinking-water aquifer on Cape Cod, MA, were assessed by laboratory incubations. When the enrichments were grown under heterotrophic
Authors
Jennifer C. Underwood, Ronald W. Harvey, David W. Metge, Deborah A. Repert, Laura K. Baumgartner, Richard L. Smith, Timberly M. Roane, Larry B. Barber
Fluorescent microspheres as surrogates in evaluating the efficacy of riverbank filtration for removing Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and other pathogens
A major benefit of riverbank filtration (RBF) is that it provides a relatively effective means for pathogen removal. There is a need to conduct more injection-and-recovery transport studies at operating RBF sites in order to properly assess the combined effects of the site heterogeneities and ambient physicochemical conditions, which are difficult to replicate in the lab. For field transport studi
Authors
Ronald W. Harvey, David W. Metge, Rodney A. Sheets, Jay Jasperse
Influence of dissolved organic matter on the environmental fate of metals, nanoparticles, and colloids
We have known for decades that dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a critical role in the biogeochemical cycling of trace metals and the mobility of colloidal particles in aquatic environments. In recent years, concerns about the ecological and human health effects of metal-based engineered nanoparticles released into natural waters have increased efforts to better define the nature of DOM intera
Authors
George R. Aiken, Heileen Hsu-Kim, Joseph N. Ryan
Interlaboratory comparison of measurements of acid-volatile sulfide and simultaneously extracted nickel in spiked sediments
An interlaboratory comparison of acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) and simultaneously extracted nickel (SEM_Ni) measurements of sediments was conducted among five independent laboratories. Relative standard deviations for the seven test samples ranged from 5.6 to 71% (mean = 25%) for AVS and from 5.5 to 15% (mean = 10%) for SEM_Ni. These results are in stark contrast to a recently published study that i
Authors
William G. Brumbaugh, Chad R. Hammerschmidt, Luciana Zanella, Emily Rogevich, Gregory Salata, Radoslaw Bolek
Influence of dissolved organic carbon on toxicity of copper to a unionid mussel (Villosa iris) and a cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia) in acute and chronic water exposures
Acute and chronic toxicity of copper (Cu) to a unionid mussel (Villosa iris) and a cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia) were determined in water exposures at four concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC; nominally 0.5, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/L as carbon [C]). Test waters with DOC concentrations of 2.5 to 10 mg C/L were prepared by mixing a concentrate of natural organic matter (Suwannee River, GA, U
Authors
Ning Wang, Christopher A. Mebane, James L. Kunz, Christopher G. Ingersoll, William G. Brumbaugh, Robert C. Santore, Joseph W. Gorsuch, W. Ray Arnold
Effects of biologically-active chemical mixtures on fish in a wastewater-impacted urban stream
Stream flow in urban aquatic ecosystems often is maintained by water-reclamation plant (WRP) effluents that contain mixtures of natural and anthropogenic chemicals that persist through the treatment processes. In effluent-impactedstreams, aquatic organisms such as fish are continuously exposed to biologically-activechemicals throughout their life cycles. The North Shore Channel of the Chicago Rive
Authors
Larry B. Barber, Gregory K. Brown, Todd G. Nettesheim, Elizabeth W. Murphy, Stephen E. Bartell, Heiko L. Schoenfuss
Selective uptake and biological consequences of environmentally relevant antidepressant pharmaceutical exposures on male fathead minnows
Antidepressant pharmaceuticals have been reported in wastewater effluent at the nanogram to low microgram-per-liter range, and include bupropion (BUP), fluoxetine (FLX), sertraline (SER), and venlafaxine (VEN). To assess the effects of antidepressants on reproductive anatomy, physiology, and behavior, adult male fathead minnows (Pimeplwles promelas) were exposed for 21 days either to a single conc
Authors
Melissa M. Schultz, Meghan M. Painter, Stephen E. Bartell, Amanda Logue, Edward T. Furlong, Stephen L. Werner, Heiko L. Schoenfuss
Environmental settings of streams sampled for mercury in New York and South Carolina, 2005-09
This report summarizes the environmental settings of streams in New York and South Carolina, where the U.S. Geological Survey completed detailed investigations during 2005-09 into factors contributing to mercury bioaccumulation in top-predator fish and other stream organisms. Descriptions of location, land use/land cover, climate, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, hydrology, water temperature
Authors
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Karen Riva-Murray, Martyn J. Smith, Paul M. Bradley, Daniel T. Button, Jimmy M. Clark, Douglas A. Burns, Celeste A. Journey
Contamination of nonylphenolic compounds in creek water, wastewater treatment plant effluents, and sediments from Lake Shihwa and vicinity, Korea: Comparison with fecal pollution
Nonylphenolic compounds (NPs), coprostanol (COP), and cholestanol, major contaminants in industrial and domestic wastewaters, were analyzed in creek water, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, and sediment samples from artificial Lake Shihwa and its vicinity, one of the most industrialized regions in Korea. We also determined mass discharge of NPs and COP, a fecal sterol, into the lake, to
Authors
Minkyu Choi, Edward T. Furlong, Hyo-Bang Moon, Jun Yu, Hee-Gu Choi
Calcite growth-rate inhibition by fulvic acids isolated from Big Soda Lake, Nevada, USA, the Suwannee River, Georgia, USA and by polycarboxylic acids
Calcite crystallization rates are characterized using a constant solution composition at 25°C, pH=8.5, and calcite supersaturation (Ω) of 4.5 in the absence and presence of fulvic acids isolated from Big Soda Lake, Nevada (BSLFA), and a fulvic acid from the Suwannee River, Georgia (SRFA). Rates are also measured in the presence and absence of low-molar mass, aliphatic-alicyclic polycarboxylic acid
Authors
Michael M. Reddy, Jerry Leenheer
What makes a natural clay antibacterial?
Natural clays have been used in ancient and modern medicine, but the mechanism(s) that make certain clays lethal against bacterial pathogens has not been identified. We have compared the depositional environments, mineralogies, and chemistries of clays that exhibit antibacterial effects on a broad spectrum of human pathogens including antibiotic resistant strains. Natural antibacterial clays conta
Authors
Lynda B. Williams, David W. Metge, Dennis D. Eberl, Ronald W. Harvey, Amanda G. Turner, Panjai Prapaipong, Amisha T. Port-Peterson
Wastewater dilution index partially explains observed polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardant concentrations in osprey eggs from Columbia River Basin, 2008-2009
Several polybrominated biphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners were found in all 175 osprey (Pandion haliaetus) eggs collected from the Columbia River Basin between 2002 and 2009. ΣPBDE concentrations in 2008–2009 were highest in osprey eggs from the two lowest flow rivers studied; however, each river flowed through relatively large and populous metropolitan areas (Boise, Idaho and Spokane, Washington). W
Authors
Charles J. Henny, Robert A. Grove, James L. Kaiser, Branden L. Johnson, Chad V. Furl, Robert J. Letcher