Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
Filter Total Items: 4094
An exploratory investigation of polar organic compounds in waters from a lead–zinc mine and mill complex
Surface water samples were collected in 2006 from a lead mine-mill complex in Missouri to investigate possible organic compounds coming from the milling process. Water samples contained relatively high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC; greater than 20 mg/l) for surface waters but were colorless, implying a lack of naturally occurring aquatic humic or fulvic acids. Samples were extra
Authors
Colleen E. Rostad, Christopher J. Schmitt, John G. Schumacher, Thomas J. Leiker
Impact of mine and natural sources of mercury on water, sediment, and biota in Harley Gulch adjacent to the Abbott-Turkey Run mine, Lake County, California
Executive SummaryStable-isotope data indicate that there are three sources of water that effect the composition and Hg concentration of waters in Harley Gulch: (1) meteoric water that dominates water chemistry during the wet season; (2) thermal water effluent from the Turkey Run mine that effects the chemistry at sample site HG1; and (3) cold connate groundwater that dominates water chemistry duri
Authors
James J. Rytuba, Roger L. Hothem, Brianne E. Brussee, Daniel N. Goldstein
Tumor prevalence and biomarkers of genotoxicity in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) in Chesapeake Bay tributaries
We surveyed four Chesapeake Bay tributaries for skin and liver tumors in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus). We focused on the South River, where the highest skin tumor prevalence (53%) in the Bay watershed had been reported. The objectives were to 1) compare tumor prevalence with nearby rivers (Severn and Rhode) and a more remote river (Choptank); 2) investigate associations between tumor preval
Authors
Alfred E. Pinkney, John C. Harshbarger, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Kathryn Jenko, Lennart Balk, Halldora Skarphéðinsdóttir, Birgitta Liewenborg, Michael A. Rutter
Transient groundwater chemistry near a river: Effects on U(VI) transport in laboratory column experiments
In the 300 Area of a U(VI)-contaminated aquifer at Hanford, Washington, USA, inorganic carbon and major cations, which have large impacts on U(VI) transport, change on an hourly and seasonal basis near the Columbia River. Batch and column experiments were conducted to investigate the factors controlling U(VI) adsorption/desorption by changing chemical conditions over time. Low alkalinity and low C
Authors
Jun Yin, Roy Haggerty, Deborah L. Stoliker, Douglas B. Kent, Jonathan D. Istok, Janek Greskowiak, John M. Zachara
Toxicity of silicon carbide nanowires to sediment-dwelling invertebrates in water or sediment exposures
Silicon carbide nanowires (SiCNW) are insoluble in water. When released into an aquatic environment, SiCNW would likely accumulate in sediment. The objective of this study was to assess the toxicity of SiCNW to four freshwater sediment-dwelling organisms: amphipods (Hyalella azteca), midges (Chironomus dilutus), oligochaetes (Lumbriculus variegatus), and mussels (Lampsilis siliquoidea). Amphipods
Authors
Joseph N. Mwangi, Ning Wang, Andrew Ritts, James L. Kunz, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Hao Li, Baolin Deng
Toxic effects of dietary methylmercury on immune function and hematology in American kestrels (Falco sparverius)
Fifty-nine adult male American kestrels (Falco sparverius) were assigned to one of three diet formulations including 0 (control), 0.6, and 3.9 μg/g (dry wt) methylmercury (MeHg). Kestrels received their diets daily for 13 weeks to assess the effects of dietary MeHg on immunocompetence. Immunotoxic endpoints included assessment of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) using the phytohemagglutinin (PHA) skin
Authors
Dawn M. Fallacara, Richard S. Halbrook, John B. French
Toxic effects of dietary methylmercury on immune system development in nestling American kestrels (Falco sparverius)
This study evaluated the effects of dietary methylmercury (MeHg) on immune system development in captive-reared nestling American kestrels (Falco sparverius) to determine whether T cell–mediated and antibody-mediated adaptive immunity are targets for MeHg toxicity at environmentally relevant concentrations. Nestlings received various diets, including 0 (control), 0.6, and 3.9 μg/g (dry wt) MeHg fo
Authors
Dawn M. Fallacara, Richard S. Halbrook, John B. French
Towards identifying the next generation of superfund and hazardous waste site contaminants
Background This commentary evolved from a workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences titled "Superfund Contaminants: The Next Generation" held in Tucson, Arizona, in August 2009. All the authors were workshop participants.
Objectives Our aim was to initiate a dynamic, adaptable process for identifying contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) that are likely to be
Authors
Wendell P. Ela, David L. Sedlak, Morton A. Barlaz, Heather F. Henry, Derek C.G. Muir, Deborah L. Swackhamer, Eric J. Weber, Robert G. Arnold, P. Lee Ferguson, Jennifer A. Field, Edward T. Furlong, John P. Giesy, Rolf U. Halden, Tala Henry, Ronald A. Hites, Keri C. Hornbuckle, Philip H. Howard, Richard G. Luthy, Anita K. Meyer, A. Eduardo Saez, Frederick S. vom Saal, Chris D. Vulpe, Mark R. Wiesner
Pathogenic bacteria and microbial-source tracking markers in Brandywine Creek Basin, Pennsylvania and Delaware, 2009-10
The City of Wilmington, Delaware, is in the downstream part of the Brandywine Creek Basin, on the main stem of Brandywine Creek. Wilmington uses this stream, which drains a mixed-land-use area upstream, for its main drinking-water supply. Because the stream is used for drinking water, Wilmington is in need of information about the occurrence and distribution of specific fecally derived pathogenic
Authors
Joseph W. Duris, Andrew G. Reif, Leif E. Olson, Heather E. Johnson
Editor’s message: Groundwater modeling fantasies - Part 2, down to earth
Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art. (Frédéric Chopin, a musician and composer, quoted in If Not God, Then What? by Fost 2007)Despite the dubious developments discussed in part 1 of this Editor’s Message (Voss 2011), groundwater modeling really does represent the state of the
Authors
Clifford I. Voss
Quality of our groundwater resources: Arsenic and fluoride
Groundwater often contains arsenic or fluoride concentrations too high for drinking or cooking. These constituents, often naturally occurring, are not easy to remove. The right combination of natural or manmade conditions can lead to elevated arsenic or fluoride which includes continental source rocks, high alkalinity and pH, reducing conditions for arsenic, high phosphate, high temperature and hi
Authors
D. Kirk Nordstrom
Editor’s message: Groundwater modeling fantasies - Part 1, adrift in the details
Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it. …Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it. (Epigrams in Programming by Alan Perlis, a computer scientist; Perlis 1982).A doctoral student creating a groundwater model of a regional aquifer put individual circular regions around data points where he had hydraulic head measurements, so that each regi
Authors
Clifford I. Voss