Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
Filter Total Items: 4094
Mercury assessment and monitoring protocol for the Bear Creek Watershed, Colusa County, California
This report summarizes the known information on the occurrence and distribution of mercury (Hg) in physical/chemical and biological matrices within the Bear Creek watershed. Based on these data, a matrix-specific monitoring protocol for the evaluation of the effectiveness of activities designed to remediate Hg contamination in the Bear Creek watershed is presented. The monitoring protocol document
Authors
Thomas H. Suchanek, Roger L. Hothem, James J. Rytuba, Julie L. Yee
Assessment of soil-gas, surface-water, and soil contamination at the Installation Railhead, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2008-2009
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Army Environmental and Natural Resources Management Office of the U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, assessed soil gas, surface water, and soil for contaminants at the Installation Railhead (IR) at Fort Gordon, Georgia, from October 2008 to September 2009. The assessment included delineation of organic contaminants pr
Authors
James Landmeyer, Larry G. Harrelson, W. Hagan Ratliff, John B. Wellborn
The transition of benthic nutrient sources after planned levee breaches adjacent to upper Klamath and Agency Lakes, Oregon
Four sampling trips were coordinated after planned levee breaches that hydrologically reconnected both Upper Klamath Lake and Agency Lake, Oregon, to adjacent wetlands. Sets of nonmetallic pore-water profilers were deployed during these trips in November 2007, June 2008, May 2009, and July 2009. Deployments temporally spanned the annual cyanophyte bloom of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA) and spatia
Authors
James S. Kuwabara, Brent R. Topping, James L. Carter, Francis Parchaso, Jason M. Cameron, Jessica R. Asbill, Steven V. Fend, John H. Duff, Anita C. Engelstad
Fate of estrogenic compounds during municipal sludge stabilization and dewatering
This project brought together a team of experts in the fields of environmental engineering, analytical chemistry and hydrogeology, and biological assay analysis to evaluate the occurrence and fate of estrogenic compounds and the estrogenicity of biosolids derived from wastewater treatment. The primary objective of the study was to provide key baseline information concerning the estrogenicity (meas
Authors
Edward T. Furlong, James L. Gray, David M. Quanrud, S.E. Teske, K.J. Esposito, Jeremy Marine, Wendell P. Ela, Patrick J. Phillips, Dana W. Kolpin, B. Stinson
Organochlorine and PBDE concentrations in relation to cytochrome P450 activity in livers of Forster’s Terns (Sterna forsteri) and Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia), in San Francisco Bay, California
We measured halogenated organic contaminants (HOCs) [polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT)] and P450 [e.g., ethoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase (EROD)] stress in livers from Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia) adults and Forster’s tern (Sterna forsteri) adults and chicks in San Francisco Bay (SFB). Penta BDEs and tetra PBDEs co
Authors
Garth Herring, Joshua T. Ackerman, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Terrence L. Adelsbach, Mark J. Melancon, Katie R. Stebbins, David J. Hoffman
Biogeochemical redox processes and their impact on contaminant dynamics
Life and element cycling on Earth is directly related to electron transfer (or redox) reactions. An understanding of biogeochemical redox processes is crucial for predicting and protecting environmental health and can provide new opportunities for engineered remediation strategies. Energy can be released and stored by means of redox reactions via the oxidation of labile organic carbon or inorganic
Authors
Thomas Borch, Ruben Kretzschmar, Andreas Kappler, Philippe Van Cappellen, Matthew Ginder-Vogel, Kate M. Campbell
Changes in the chemistry of shallow groundwater related to the 2008 injection of CO2 at the ZERT field site, Bozeman, Montana
Approximately 300 kg/day of food-grade CO2 was injected through a perforated pipe placed horizontally 2–2.3 m deep during July 9–August 7, 2008 at the MSU-ZERT field test to evaluate atmospheric and near-surface monitoring and detection techniques applicable to the subsurface storage and potential leakage of CO2. As part of this multidisciplinary research project, 80 samples of water were collecte
Authors
Yousif K. Kharaka, James J. Thordsen, Evangelos Kakouros, Gil Ambats, William N. Herkelrath, Sarah R. Beers, J.T. Birkholzer, J. A. Apps, Nicholas F. Spycher, Liange Zheng, Robert C. Trautz, Henry W. Rauch, K.S. Gullickson
Patterns and scales of phytoplankton variability in estuarine: Coastal ecosystems
Phytoplankton variability is a primary driver of chemical and biological dynamics in the coastal zone because it directly affects water quality, biogeochemical cycling of reactive elements, and food supply to consumer organisms. Much has been learned about patterns of phytoplankton variability within individual ecosystems, but patterns have not been compared across the diversity of ecosystem types
Authors
James E. Cloern, Alan D. Jassby
The influence of topology on hydraulic conductivity in a sand-and-gravel aquifer
A field experiment consisting of geophysical logging and tracer testing was conducted in a single well that penetrated a sand‐and‐gravel aquifer at the U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology research site on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Geophysical logs and flowmeter/pumping measurements were obtained to estimate vertical profiles of porosity ϕ, hydraulic conductivity K, temperature, and bu
Authors
Roger H. Morin, Denis R. LeBlanc, Brent M. Troutman
Representing pump-capacity relations in groundwater simulation models
The yield (or discharge) of constant-speed pumps varies with the total dynamic head (or lift) against which the pump is discharging. The variation in yield over the operating range of the pump may be substantial. In groundwater simulations that are used for management evaluations or other purposes, where predictive accuracy depends on the reliability of future discharge estimates, model reliabilit
Authors
Leonard F. Konikow
Testing independent and interactive effects of corticosterone and synergized resmethrin on the immune response to West Nile virus in chickens
Public health agencies utilize aerial insecticides to interrupt an active West Nile virus (WNV) transmission cycle, which may expose WNV-infected birds to these agents. Although resmethrin has been considered benign to birds, no studies have evaluated whether the environmentally employed form of resmethrin with PBO synergist (synergized resmethrin (SR)) can suppress avian immunity to WNV infection
Authors
Mark D. Jankowski, J. Christian Franson, Erich Möstl, Warren P. Porter, Erik K. Hofmeister