Health Risks

New study explores the persistence and transport of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) that originated from both firefighting and domestic wastewater sources. Although the fire training area and wastewater facility were decommissioned over 20 years ago, both sites continue to be sources of PFASs to groundwater.

Collaborative joint agency study provides nationally consistent and rigorously quality-assured datasets on a wide range of chemical and microbial contaminants present in source and treated public drinking water supplies. Tap water was not analyzed in this study.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Dr. Keith A. Loftin received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water's Achievement in Science and Technology Award for his contributions to the National Wetlands Condition Assessment.

The addition of nitrate in a low oxygen groundwater resulted in the immobilization of naturally occurring dissolved arsenic and the conversion of nitrate to innocuous nitrogen gas.

First-ever reconnaissance study documents the off-field transport of nitrapyrin — a nitrification inhibitor applied with fertilizers as a bactericide to kill natural soil bacteria for the purpose of increasing crop yields — to adjacent streams. This study is the first step in understanding the transport, occurrence, and potential effects of nitrapyrin or similar compounds on nitrogen processing in...

The presence of indicator bacteria, hepatitis E virus (HEV), and numerous bacterial pathogen genes increased following precipitation-induced runoff events in streams draining adjacent land surfaces in Iowa where swine manure was recently applied.

Saharan dust nutrients, particularly iron, deposited episodically in tropical marine waters stimulate marine microbial bloom growth and change microbial community structure.

For the first time, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the University of Connecticut scientists have detected active anammox bacteria in groundwater.

A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study elucidates the influence of animal type and environmental variables on bacterial pathogen occurrence in streams under typical watershed conditions.

Potential long-term contaminant threats resulting from compromised infrastructure, beach erosion, and sediment disturbance were evaluated in the coastal environments of New Jersey and New York in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Newly published study provides new evidence of the widespread occurrence of cyanotoxins in lakes and reservoirs of the United States and offers new insights into measures used for assessing potential recreational health risks.

Iodinated disinfection byproducts were found at stream locations downstream from treated discharge from wastewater treatment plants that receive dairy waste and in the wastewaters directly from dairy facilities.