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Environmental Health-Minerals Active

By Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center December 30, 2021

Mixing zone of acid mine drainage

Caddisfly larva

Lab testing

This project provides scientific data about how contaminants, that might originate from mineral resource activities, are transported through the environment; their pathways of exposure; and where they ultimately end up. Contaminant exposures can originate from transportation, storage, extraction, and waste management mineral resource activities. This project distinguishes perceived health risks to humans, and other exposed organisms, from actual risks. Our work emphasizes addressing these issues on public and Department of the Interior-managed lands.

 

Formation of Fe and Al hydroxide precipitates after acidic water is discharged into a circum-neutral river
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
Acidic waters from Cement Creek are discharged in the circum-neutral Animas River near Keystone, Colorado. Mixing of the waters produces colloidal-size iron and aluminum hydroxide precipitates.

Understand the Processes 

To accurately assess the risks from metal contaminants, it is necessary to first characterize the hydrologic, geochemical, and biological processes governing the environmental fate, exposure, bioaccumulation, and effects of metals. This task aims to advance conceptual and mechanistic understanding of biogeochemical and physiological processes that determine metal bioaccumulation and toxicity to biota affected by the mining life cycle.  

Caddisfly larva in its case made of colorful particles
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
Aquatic insects such as the caddisfly larva (Limnephilus sp.) are dominant macroinvertebrates in the spring systems in the Grand Canyon region.

Grand Canyon Uranium 

This task aims at better understanding the potential effects of uranium and other cooccurring ore body elements released into the environment during mining of breccia-pipe uranium deposits on regional water resources (quality and quantity), native plants and animals, and cultural and tribal resources.

Experimental setting for waterborne U exposures at 15°C with MKS mass flow controllers to mix CO2 with air to control pH
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
Controlled laboratory experiments are conducted to characterize the biogeochemical processes controlling uranium bioavailability

To accomplish this, it is necessary to characterize the transport pathways of mining related contaminants in water, soil, sediment, and biota and improve understanding of pathways of exposure and biological effects of exposure. 

Multi-metal and Multi-stressor Effects on Ecosystems 

This task represents a convergence of two areas of research: metal mixtures and critical elements. Research on metal mixtures focuses on addressing knowledge gaps related to the interaction of multiple metals and developing the fundamental science that can be used to predict uptake and effects of metal mixtures. Critical elements research focuses on the fate, transport, exposure, and effects of up to 35 critical elements that have important strategic or economic importance. The potential risks across the mineral lifecycle of many of these critical elements are poorly understood.

Below are other science topics related to this project

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Freshwater snail (Lymnaea stagnalis) used in the laboratory exposure tests to understand metal uptake and bioavailability

Study Reveals Processes that Control Uranium Bioavailability in a Freshwater Snail—Relevance to Aquatic Biota in the Grand Canyon Area

Scientists refined an existing speciation model to identify key biogeochemical processes controlling dissolved uranium bioavailability to a freshwater snail. This information is important to advance current understanding and prediction of the ecological risk posed by uranium mining to freshwater ecosystems, including federally managed lands such as in the Grand Canyon area.
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Ecosystems, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology
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Study Reveals Processes that Control Uranium Bioavailability in a Freshwater Snail—Relevance to Aquatic Biota in the Grand Canyon Area

Scientists refined an existing speciation model to identify key biogeochemical processes controlling dissolved uranium bioavailability to a freshwater snail. This information is important to advance current understanding and prediction of the ecological risk posed by uranium mining to freshwater ecosystems, including federally managed lands such as in the Grand Canyon area.
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Below are data associated with this project

Biogeochemical data of water, sediments, periphyton, and macroinvertebrates collected from springs in and near Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (ver. 4.0, October 2022)

The U.S. Geological Survey is studying uranium and associated trace element bioaccumulation in aquatic invertebrates across a gradient of dissolved uranium concentrations in spring outflow pools and creeks in the Grand Canyon and adjacent watershed. This data release makes available data from sampling campaigns in April 2016, April 2017, and in April 2019. Data collected include: (1) major ion, tr
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Ecosystems, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Mineral Resources Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Data acquired in laboratory experiments conducted with the stonefly Zapada sp. and the ephemerellid mayflies Drunella sp. and Ephemerella tibialis to characterize uptake and surface adsorption after short aqueous exposures to uranium, 2017-2019

Little is known about the underlying mechanisms governing uranium (U) bioaccumulation in aquatic insects, especially the influence of surface adsorption on the measured U concentrations (Henry et al. 2020). U.S. Geological Survey scientists are conducting experiments to parameterize conditional rate constants for aqueous U uptake and to quantify desorption of weakly bound U from insect's integumen
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Ecosystems, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology

Data for laboratory experiments conducted with the mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer to derive uranium bioaccumulation parameters and predict site-specific U accumulation, 2016-2019

The U.S. Geological Survey is studying the underlying processes controlling uranium (U) bioaccumulation in aquatic invertebrates by experimentally parameterizing conditional rate constants for aqueous U uptake, dietary U uptake and U elimination. This data release makes available data from laboratory experiments conducted with the aquatic baetid mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer.
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Water Resources

Below are publications related to this project

Uranium bioaccumulation dynamics in the mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer and application to site-specific prediction

Little is known about the underlying mechanisms governing the bioaccumulation of uranium (U) in aquatic insects. We experimentally parameterized conditional rate constants for aqueous U uptake, dietary U uptake, and U elimination for the aquatic baetid mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer. Results showed that this species accumulates U from both the surrounding water and diet, with waterborne uptake prev
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Ecosystems, Water Resources, Fort Collins Science Center

Competitive interactions among H, CU, and Zn ion moderate aqueous uptake of Cu and Zn by an aquatic insect

The absorption of aqueous copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) by aquatic insects, a group widely used to assess water quality, is unresolved. This study examined interactions among Cu, Zn, and protons that potentially moderate Cu and Zn uptake by the acid-tolerant stonefly Zapada sp. Saturation uptake kinetics was imposed to identify competitive mechanisms. Decreasing pH reduced the maximum transport capaci
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Water Resources, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology

Assessing the dietary bioavailability of metals associated with natural particles: Extending the use of the reverse labeling approach to zinc

We extend the use of a novel tracing technique to quantify the bioavailability of zinc (Zn) associated with natural particles using snails enriched with a less common Zn stable isotope. Lymnaea stagnalis is a model species that has relatively fast Zn uptake rates from the dissolved phase, enabling their rapid enrichment in 67Zn during the initial phase of labeling. Isotopically enriched snails wer
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Water Resources, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, National Minerals Information Center

Biogeochemical controls of uranium bioavailability from the dissolved phase in natural freshwaters

To gain insights into the risks associated with uranium (U) mining and processing, we investigated the biogeochemical controls of U bioavailability in the model freshwater speciesLymnaea stagnalis (Gastropoda). Bioavailability of dissolved U(VI) was characterized in controlled laboratory experiments over a range of water hardness, pH, and in the presence of complexing ligands in the form of dissol
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Water Resources, Ecosystems, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Environmental Health Program, Colorado Water Science Center

Dietary uptake of Cu sorbed to hydrous iron oxide is linked to cellular toxicity and feeding inhibition in a benthic grazer

Whereas feeding inhibition caused by exposure to contaminants has been extensively documented, the underlying mechanism(s) are less well understood. For this study, the behavior of several key feeding processes, including ingestion rate and assimilation efficiency, that affect the dietary uptake of Cu were evaluated in the benthic grazer Lymnaea stagnalis following 4–5 h exposures to Cu adsorbed t
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Water Resources, Ecosystems, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Environmental Health Program

Dietary bioavailability of Cu adsorbed to colloidal hydrous ferric oxide

The dietary bioavailability of copper (Cu) adsorbed to synthetic colloidal hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) was evaluated from the assimilation of 65Cu by two benthic grazers, a gastropod and a larval mayfly. HFO was synthesized, labeled with 65Cu to achieve a Cu/Fe ratio comparable to that determined in naturally formed HFO, and then aged. The labeled colloids were mixed with a food source (the diatom
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Water Resources

Novel and non-traditional use of stable isotope tracers to study metal bioavailability from natural particles

We devised a novel tracing approach that involves enriching test organisms with a stable metal isotope of low natural abundance prior to characterizing metal bioavailability from natural inorganic particles. In addition to circumventing uncertainties associated with labeling natural particles and distinguishing background metals, the proposed "reverse labeling" technique overcomes many drawbacks i
By
Water Resources

Below are news items related to this project

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Living Organisms Take Up Uranium from their Environment

To gain insights into the risks associated with uranium mining and processing, U.S. Geological Survey scientists are investigating how uranium moves...

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