Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
Filter Total Items: 4094
Influence of remediation in a mine-impacted river: Metal trends over large spatial and temporal scales
The effectiveness of mine-waste remediation at the Clark Fork River Superfund site in western Montana, USA, was examined by monitoring metal concentrations in resident biota (caddisfly, Hydropsyche spp.) and bed sediment over a 19-year period. Remediation activities began in 1990 and are ongoing. In the upper 45 km, reduced Cu and Cd concentrations at some sites were coincident with remediation ev
Authors
Michelle I. Hornberger, S. N. Luoma, M.L. Johnson, M. Holyoak
Not all water becomes wine: Sulfur inputs as an opportune tracer of hydrochemical losses from vineyards
California's widespread and economically important vineyards offer substantial opportunities to understand the interface between hydrology and biogeochemistry in agricultural soils. The common use of native sulfur (S) as a fumigant or soil additive provides a novel way to isotopically differentiate among sulfate (SO42−) pools, allowing the estimation of water and SO42− budgets. The objectives of t
Authors
Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley, Carol Kendall, Keith Loague
Occurrence of transformation products in the environment
Historically, most environmental occurrence research has focused on the parent compounds of organic contaminants. Research, however, has documented that the environmental transport of chemicals, such as pesticides and emerging contaminants, are substantially underestimated if transformation products are not considered. Although most examples described herein were drawn from research conducted by t
Authors
Dana W. Kolpin, William A. Battaglin, Kathleen E. Conn, Edward T. Furlong, Susan T. Glassmeyer, Stephen J. Kalkhoff, Michael T. Meyer, Douglas J. Schnoebelen
Comparison of alternative representations of hydraulic-conductivity anisotropy in folded fractured-sedimentary rock: Modeling groundwater flow in the Shenandoah Valley (USA)
A numerical representation that explicitly represents the generalized three-dimensional anisotropy of folded fractured-sedimentary rocks in a groundwater model best reproduces the salient features of the flow system in the Shenandoah Valley, USA. This conclusion results from a comparison of four alternative representations of anisotropy in which the hydraulic-conductivity tensor represents the bed
Authors
R. M. Yager, C.I. Voss, S. Southworth
Gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric fragmentation study of phytoestrogens as their trimethylsilyl derivatives: Identification in soy milk and wastewater samples
An analytical method for the identification of eight plant phytoestrogens (biochanin A, coumestrol, daidzein, equol, formononetin, glycitein, genistein and prunetin) in soy products and wastewater samples was developed using gas chromatography coupled with ion trap mass spectrometry (GC/MS–MS). The phytoestrogens were derivatized as their trimethylsilyl ethers with trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) and
Authors
Imma Ferrar, Larry B. Barber, E. Michael Thurman
Further declines in organochlorines in eggs of red-breasted mergansers from Lake Michigan, 1977-1978 versus 1990 versus 2002
From 1977–1978 to 1990, concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and most organochlorine pesticides declined in eggs of red-breasted mergansers (Mergus serrator) nesting on islands in northwestern Lake Michigan. Further declines took place between 1990 and 2002. Between 1977–1978 and 1990 total PCBs decreased 60% (from 21 to 8.5 μg/g, wet weight). An additional decline of 46% took place
Authors
G. H. Heinz, K. L. Stromborg
Exposure of insects and insectivorous birds to metals and other elements from abandoned mine tailings in three Summit County drainages, Colorado
Concentrations of 31 metals, metalloids, and other elements were measured in insects and insectivorous bird tissues from three drainages with different geochemistry and mining histories in Summit Co., Colorado, in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In insect samples, all 25 elements that were analyzed in all years increased in both Snake and Deer Creeks in the mining impacted areas compared to areas above and
Authors
Christine M. Custer, Chi Yang, James G. Crock, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Kathleen S. Smith, Philip L. Hageman
Acid rock drainage and climate change
Rainfall events cause both increases and decreases in acid and metals concentrations and their loadings from mine wastes, and unmined mineralized areas, into receiving streams based on data from 3 mines sites in the United States and other sites outside the US. Gradual increases in concentrations occur during long dry spells and sudden large increases are observed during the rising limb of the dis
Authors
D. Kirk Nordstrom
Effects of the herbicide diuron on cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) reflectance and photosynthetic parameters
Early indicators of salt marsh plant stress are needed to detect stress before it is manifested as changes in biomass and coverage. We explored a variety of leaf-level spectral reflectance and fluorescence variables as indicators of stress in response to the herbicide diuron. Diuron, a Photosystem II inhibitor, is heavily used in areas adjacent to estuaries, but its ecological effects are just beg
Authors
S.L. Williams, A. Carranza, J. Kunzelman, S. Datta, Kathryn Kuivila
Flow and geochemistry of groundwater beneath a back-barrier lagoon: The subterranean estuary at Chincoteague Bay, Maryland, USA
To better understand large-scale interactions between fresh and saline groundwater beneath an Atlantic coastal estuary, an offshore drilling and sampling study was performed in a large barrier-bounded lagoon, Chincoteague Bay, Maryland, USA. Groundwater that was significantly fresher than overlying bay water was found in shallow plumes up to 8 m thick extending more than 1700 m offshore. Groundwat
Authors
J.F. Bratton, J.K. Böhlke, D.E. Krantz, C.R. Tobias
Predator avoidance performance of larval fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) following short-term exposure to estrogen mixtures
Aquatic organisms exposed to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) at early life-stages may have reduced reproductive fitness via disruption of reproductive and non-reproductive behavioral and physiological pathways. Survival to reproductive age relies upon optimal non-reproductive trait expression, such as adequate predator avoidance responses, which may be impacted through EDC exposure. During a
Authors
M.R. McGee, M.L. Julius, A.M. Vajda, D.O. Norris, L. B. Barber, H.L. Schoenfuss
Mercury isotopic composition of hydrothermal systems in the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field and Guaymas Basin sea-floor rift
To characterize mercury (Hg) isotopes and isotopic fractionation in hydrothermal systems we analyzed fluid and precipitate samples from hot springs in the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field and vent chimney samples from the Guaymas Basin sea-floor rift. These samples provide an initial indication of the variability in Hg isotopic composition among marine and continental hydrothermal systems that a
Authors
L.S. Sherman, J.D. Blum, D. Kirk Nordstrom, R. Blaine McCleskey, T. Barkay, C. Vetriani