Biologically Active Chemical Research Core Technology Team Active
By Environmental Health Program
March 14, 2024
PFAS in Cape Cod Groundwater.
Fate, Occurrence, and Biological Effects
Fate, Occurrence, and Biological Effects
PFAS and other Contaminants
in the Potomac River Watershed
in the Potomac River Watershed
Water Reuse and Associated Contaminants
are studied in the Upper Colorado River and other locations.
are studied in the Upper Colorado River and other locations.
About the Research.
The Biologically Active Chemicals Research Core Technology Team (CTT) as part of the Environmental Health Program conducts field and laboratory research on the occurrence, fate, and effects of complex mixtures of biologically active organic and inorganic chemicals in aquatic environments.
The primary focus of the Biologically Active Chemicals Research CTT is 1) water reuse, 2) the associated introduction of chemical contaminants into surface water and groundwater, and 3) potential biological effects.
Sources/Usage: Some content may have restrictions. View Media Details
- Field investigations into contaminant occurrence and exposure pathways in surface water and groundwater are being conducted across the Nation in a variety of hydrologic environments including the Upper Colorado River basin, the Rio Grande River basin, the Illinois River basin, the Potomac River basin, the Chesapeake Bay, Cape Cod, and the Hawaiian Islands. Water-quality study designs include longitudinal surveys, time-of-travel investigations, time-series analysis, and tracer tests.
- These water-quality investigations involve comprehensive and contemporaneous analysis of complex chemical mixtures including contaminant chemicals of emerging concern (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, trace elements) using multiple chemical and physical measurement techniques.
- Water-quality analysis methods include: bulk chemical property characterization for organic carbon, nutrients, and optical properties (absorbance and fluorescence), trace-organic chemical analysis by gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MSMS), trace-organic chemical screening by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), major-ion analysis by inductively-coupled plasma/optical emission spectrometry (ICP/OES) and ion chromatography, and trace-element analysis by inductively-coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ICP/MS).
- Field-based experiments using on-site mobile laboratory protocols to characterize biological effects and bioconcentration from exposure to complex chemical mixtures present in surface water and groundwater.
- Application of in-situ technology, including multi-probe fluorimeters and molecular imprinted polymer/electroanalytical microsensors, for real-time and continuous measurement of contaminants such a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and optical brighteners.
- Basin-scale water quality characterization and risk assessment using a combined approach involving application of hydrological, geospatial, and statistical models to predict environmental concentrations and risk in conjunction with discrete sampling and direct chemical measurements.
Key Chemical Analysis Capabilities
A wide range of biologically active trace organic constituents (including pharmaceuticals, consumer products, pesticides, hormones, sterols, and sugars) are typically measured as part of the comprehensive water analyses conducted, which also includes field parameters, nutrients, organic carbon, major ions, trace elements, and biological impact assessments.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Analytical Chemistry Capabilities and Instrumentation
- Quantitative, high resolution gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) used for trace analysis of emerging contaminants, both nonpolar and polar (after chemical derivatization steps)
- Extraction equipment for a variety of matrices (aqueous, sediment, tissue)
- Characterization of total and dissolved aquatic and sediment organic carbon
- Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for high-throughput aqueous and tissue analysis of priority contaminants
- Major and trace elements by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and ICP-MS, and ion chromatography (IC)
- Custom method development
- Mobile field contaminant-exposure laboratory
- Whole organism, cellular, and molecular bioassays
- Geographic Information System analyses of exposure pathways
USGS Science Team Collaborators
USGS Science Team Collaborators
-
Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Integrated Science Team
Increasing scientific and public awareness of the widespread distribution of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in U.S. drinking-water supplies, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, wildlife, and humans has raised many public health and resource management questions that U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) science can inform. The USGS Environmental Health Program's PFAS Integrated Science Team...Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Science Team
The team studies toxicants and pathogens in water resources from their sources, through watersheds, aquifers, and infrastructure to human and wildlife exposures. That information is used to develop decision tools that protect human and wildlife health.Minerals Science Team
The Minerals Integrated Science Team focuses on contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from mineral resource activities including, transportation, storage, extraction and waste management. Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be distinguished from actual risks, if any. If actual risks are identified the science produced by this team can inform how to...
-
Proxies Project
The Proxies Project is a series of studies to improve our understanding of water contaminants and water quality hazards. These studies develop models and technical approaches for estimating concentrations and assessing risk associated with: - harmful algal blooms (HABs) - per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - 12 elements of concern (EoC)
Science activities related to the Biologically Active Chemical Research Core Technology Team can be found below.
Unique Approach to Measure Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Uptake in Fish, Mussels, and Passive Samplers
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) uptake and bioconcentration by fish and mussels ─ housed in mobile laboratories at a legacy fire-training area contaminated by aqueous film-forming foams ─ varied by species, sex, and compound. PFAS in passive samplers deployed at the same time mimicked uptake by fish but not mussels indicating that passive samplers might prove useful as screening tools...
Integrated Assessments of Potential Risks to Aquatic Organisms and Public Water Supply from Wastewater-Derived Chemical Mixtures in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Proper management of contaminants of emerging concern in the Chesapeake Bay region requires scientific efforts to understand the risk posed to aquatic resources from the “cocktail” of multiple contaminants that is often present. This research aims to assess the occurrence, sources, environmental impacts, biological effects, and the human health impacts of toxic contaminants in rivers.
Refined Model Provides a Screening Tool to Understand Exposure to Contaminants from Incidental Wastewater Reuse
Refinement of the existing national-scale “de facto reuse incidence in our nation’s consumable supply” (DRINCS) model, complemented by field measurements, provides a screening tool to understand human and wildlife exposure to toxicants and pathogens associated with the incidental reuse of treated wastewater in the Shenandoah River watershed. The model results can be accessed in a companion web...
Long-Term Study Finds Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Urban Waterways
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists determined that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) were present in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, water, and fish tissue in urban waterways in the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi River Regions (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio) during 1999 through 2009.
- Overview
About the Research.
The Biologically Active Chemicals Research Core Technology Team (CTT) as part of the Environmental Health Program conducts field and laboratory research on the occurrence, fate, and effects of complex mixtures of biologically active organic and inorganic chemicals in aquatic environments.
The primary focus of the Biologically Active Chemicals Research CTT is 1) water reuse, 2) the associated introduction of chemical contaminants into surface water and groundwater, and 3) potential biological effects.
Sources/Usage: Some content may have restrictions. View Media DetailsAn on-site Mobile Lab is deployed near known sources of contaminants for field studies to understand the effects of contaminant exposure. - Field investigations into contaminant occurrence and exposure pathways in surface water and groundwater are being conducted across the Nation in a variety of hydrologic environments including the Upper Colorado River basin, the Rio Grande River basin, the Illinois River basin, the Potomac River basin, the Chesapeake Bay, Cape Cod, and the Hawaiian Islands. Water-quality study designs include longitudinal surveys, time-of-travel investigations, time-series analysis, and tracer tests.
- These water-quality investigations involve comprehensive and contemporaneous analysis of complex chemical mixtures including contaminant chemicals of emerging concern (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, trace elements) using multiple chemical and physical measurement techniques.
- Water-quality analysis methods include: bulk chemical property characterization for organic carbon, nutrients, and optical properties (absorbance and fluorescence), trace-organic chemical analysis by gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MSMS), trace-organic chemical screening by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), major-ion analysis by inductively-coupled plasma/optical emission spectrometry (ICP/OES) and ion chromatography, and trace-element analysis by inductively-coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ICP/MS).
- Field-based experiments using on-site mobile laboratory protocols to characterize biological effects and bioconcentration from exposure to complex chemical mixtures present in surface water and groundwater.
- Application of in-situ technology, including multi-probe fluorimeters and molecular imprinted polymer/electroanalytical microsensors, for real-time and continuous measurement of contaminants such a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and optical brighteners.
- Basin-scale water quality characterization and risk assessment using a combined approach involving application of hydrological, geospatial, and statistical models to predict environmental concentrations and risk in conjunction with discrete sampling and direct chemical measurements.
Key Chemical Analysis Capabilities
A wide range of biologically active trace organic constituents (including pharmaceuticals, consumer products, pesticides, hormones, sterols, and sugars) are typically measured as part of the comprehensive water analyses conducted, which also includes field parameters, nutrients, organic carbon, major ions, trace elements, and biological impact assessments.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsAquariums where male fathead minnows were exposed to the effluent from a wastewater treatment plant. Analytical Chemistry Capabilities and Instrumentation
- Quantitative, high resolution gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) used for trace analysis of emerging contaminants, both nonpolar and polar (after chemical derivatization steps)
- Extraction equipment for a variety of matrices (aqueous, sediment, tissue)
- Characterization of total and dissolved aquatic and sediment organic carbon
- Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for high-throughput aqueous and tissue analysis of priority contaminants
- Major and trace elements by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and ICP-MS, and ion chromatography (IC)
- Custom method development
- Mobile field contaminant-exposure laboratory
- Whole organism, cellular, and molecular bioassays
- Geographic Information System analyses of exposure pathways
USGS Science Team Collaborators-
Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Integrated Science Team
Increasing scientific and public awareness of the widespread distribution of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in U.S. drinking-water supplies, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, wildlife, and humans has raised many public health and resource management questions that U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) science can inform. The USGS Environmental Health Program's PFAS Integrated Science Team...Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Science Team
The team studies toxicants and pathogens in water resources from their sources, through watersheds, aquifers, and infrastructure to human and wildlife exposures. That information is used to develop decision tools that protect human and wildlife health.Minerals Science Team
The Minerals Integrated Science Team focuses on contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from mineral resource activities including, transportation, storage, extraction and waste management. Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be distinguished from actual risks, if any. If actual risks are identified the science produced by this team can inform how to...
-
Proxies Project
The Proxies Project is a series of studies to improve our understanding of water contaminants and water quality hazards. These studies develop models and technical approaches for estimating concentrations and assessing risk associated with: - harmful algal blooms (HABs) - per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - 12 elements of concern (EoC)
- Science
Science activities related to the Biologically Active Chemical Research Core Technology Team can be found below.
Unique Approach to Measure Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Uptake in Fish, Mussels, and Passive Samplers
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) uptake and bioconcentration by fish and mussels ─ housed in mobile laboratories at a legacy fire-training area contaminated by aqueous film-forming foams ─ varied by species, sex, and compound. PFAS in passive samplers deployed at the same time mimicked uptake by fish but not mussels indicating that passive samplers might prove useful as screening tools...Integrated Assessments of Potential Risks to Aquatic Organisms and Public Water Supply from Wastewater-Derived Chemical Mixtures in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Proper management of contaminants of emerging concern in the Chesapeake Bay region requires scientific efforts to understand the risk posed to aquatic resources from the “cocktail” of multiple contaminants that is often present. This research aims to assess the occurrence, sources, environmental impacts, biological effects, and the human health impacts of toxic contaminants in rivers.Refined Model Provides a Screening Tool to Understand Exposure to Contaminants from Incidental Wastewater Reuse
Refinement of the existing national-scale “de facto reuse incidence in our nation’s consumable supply” (DRINCS) model, complemented by field measurements, provides a screening tool to understand human and wildlife exposure to toxicants and pathogens associated with the incidental reuse of treated wastewater in the Shenandoah River watershed. The model results can be accessed in a companion web...Long-Term Study Finds Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Urban Waterways
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists determined that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) were present in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, water, and fish tissue in urban waterways in the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi River Regions (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio) during 1999 through 2009. - Data
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