Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).

Filter Total Items: 3746

Factors controlling nitrogen release from two forested catchments with contrasting hydrochemical responses

Quantifying biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen (N) and the associated fluxes to surface waters remains challenging, given the need to deal with spatial and temporal variability and to characterize complex and heterogeneous landscapes. We focused our study on catchments S14 and S15 located in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, USA, which have similar topographic and hydrologic characteristics but
Authors
S.F. Christopher, M.J. Mitchell, Michael McHale, E. W. Boyer, Douglas A. Burns, C. Kendall

A biodynamic understanding of dietborne metal uptake by a freshwater invertebrate

Aquatic organisms accumulate metals from dissolved and particulate phases. Dietborne metal uptake likely prevails in nature, but the physiological processes governing metal bioaccumulation from diet are not fully understood. We characterize dietborne copper, cadmium, and nickel uptake by a freshwater gastropod (Lymnaea stagnalis) both in terms of biodynamics and membrane transport characteristics.
Authors
M.-N. Croteau, S. N. Luoma

Removal of dissolved organic matter by anion exchange: Effect of dissolved organic matter properties

Ten isolates of aquatic dissolved organic matter (DOM) were evaluated to determine the effect that chemical properties of the DOM, such as charge density, aromaticity, and molecular weight, have on DOM removal by anion exchange. The DOM isolates were characterized as terrestrial, microbial, or intermediate humic substances or transphilic acids. All anion exchange experiments were conducted using a
Authors
T.H. Boyer, P.C. Singer, G. R. Aiken

Electricity generation by anaerobic bacteria and anoxic sediments from hypersaline soda lakes

Anaerobic bacteria and anoxic sediments from soda lakes produced electricity in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). No electricity was generated in the absence of bacterial metabolism. Arsenate respiring bacteria isolated from moderately hypersaline Mono Lake (Bacillus selenitireducens), and salt-saturated Searles Lake, CA (strain SLAS-1) oxidized lactate using arsenate as the electron acceptor. However,
Authors
L.G. Miller, R.S. Oremland

Chemical contaminants, health indicators, and reproductive biomarker responses in fish from rivers in the Southeastern United States

Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were collected from 13 sites located in the Mobile (MRB), Apalachicola–Flint–Chattahoochee (ARB), Savannah (SRB), and Pee Dee (PRB) River Basins to document spatial trends in accumulative chemical contaminants, health indicators, and reproductive biomarkers. Organochlorine residues, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin-like a
Authors
J.E. Hinck, V. S. Blazer, N. D. Denslow, K. R. Echols, R.W. Gale, C. Wieser, T.W. May, M. Ellersieck, J.J. Coyle, D. E. Tillitt

Decomposition of soil organic matter from boreal black spruce forest: Environmental and chemical controls

Black spruce forests are a dominant covertype in the boreal forest region, and they inhabit landscapes that span a wide range of hydrologic and thermal conditions. These forests often have large stores of soil organic carbon. Recent increases in temperature at northern latitudes may be stimulating decomposition rates of this soil carbon. It is unclear, however, how changes in environmental conditi
Authors
K.P. Wickland, J. C. Neff

Mercury and organic carbon dynamics during runoff episodes from a northeastern USA watershed

Mercury and organic carbon concentrations vary dynamically in streamwater at the Sleepers River Research Watershed in Vermont, USA. Total mercury (THg) concentrations ranged from 0.53 to 93.8 ng/L during a 3-year period of study. The highest mercury (Hg) concentrations occurred slightly before peak flows and were associated with the highest organic carbon (OC) concentrations. Dissolved Hg (DHg) wa
Authors
P. F. Schuster, J. B. Shanley, M. Marvin-DiPasquale, M.M. Reddy, G. R. Aiken, D.A. Roth, Howard E. Taylor, D. P. Krabbenhoft, J.F. DeWild

Mid-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopic examination of charred pine wood, bark, cellulose, and lignin: Implications for the quantitative determination of charcoal in soils

Fires in terrestrial ecosystems produce large amounts of charcoal that persist in the environment and represent a substantial pool of sequestered carbon in soil. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of charring on mid-infrared spectra of materials likely to be present in forest fires in order to determine the feasibility of determining charred organic matter in soils. Four
Authors
J. B. Reeves, G.W. McCarty, D.W. Rutherford, R. L. Wershaw

Influence of plankton mercury dynamics and trophic pathways on mercury concentrations of top predator fish of a mining-impacted reservoir

Physical and biogeochemical characteristics of the aquatic environment that affect growth dynamics of phytoplankton and the zooplankton communities that depend on them may also affect uptake of methylmercury (MeHg) into the pelagic food web of oligotrophic reservoirs. We evaluated changes in the quality and quantity of suspended particulate material, zooplankton taxonomy, and MeHg concentrations c
Authors
A.R. Stewart, M. K. Saiki, J.S. Kuwabara, Charles N. Alpers, M. Marvin-DiPasquale, D. P. Krabbenhoft

Pathogen and chemical transport in the karst limestone of the Biscayne aquifer: 3. Use of microspheres to estimate the transport potential of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts

The vulnerability of a municipal well in the Northwest well field in southeastern Florida to potential contamination by Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts was assessed in a large‐scale, forced‐gradient (convergent) injection and recovery test. The field study involved a simultaneous pulse introduction of a nonreactive tracer (SF6, an inert gas) and oocyst‐sized (1.6, 2.9, and 4.9 μm diameter) carboxyl
Authors
Ronald W. Harvey, David W. Metge, Allen M. Shapiro, Robert A. Renken, Christina L. Osborn, Joseph N. Ryan, Kevin J. Cunningham, Lee L. Landkamer

Effects of ionic strength, temperature, and pH on degradation of selected antibiotics

Aqueous degradation rates, which include hydrolysis and epimerization, for chlortetracycline (CTC), oxytetracycline (OTC), tetracycline (TET), lincomycin (LNC), sulfachlorpyridazine (SCP), sulfadimethoxine (SDM), sulfathiazole (STZ), trimethoprim (TRM), and tylosin A (TYL) were studied as a function of ionic strength (0.0015, 0.050, or 0.084 mg/L as Na2HPO4), temperature (7, 22, and 35°C), and pH
Authors
K.A. Loftin, C.D. Adams, M. T. Meyer, R. Surampalli

Pathogen and chemical transport in the karst limestone of the Biscayne aquifer: 1. Revised conceptualization of groundwater flow

The Biscayne aquifer is a highly transmissive karst limestone that serves as the sole source of drinking water to over two million residents in south Florida. The aquifer is characterized by eogenetic karst, where the most transmissive void space can be an interconnected, touching‐vug, biogenically influenced porosity of biogenic origin. Public supply wells in the aquifer are in close proximity to
Authors
Robert A. Renken, Kevin J. Cunningham, Allen M. Shapiro, Ronald W. Harvey, Michael R. Zygnerski, David W. Metge, Michael A. Wacker