Sublethal Effects

About the Research. The Environmental Health Program supports scientists in the Behavioral Toxicology Core Technology Team (CTT) at the Columbia Environmental Research Center. The scientists identify how contaminants alter the behavior of organisms and what implication those changes may have on individuals, populations, and communities.

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...

The team is determining the movement and behavior of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from their sources in the environment, as they move through exposure pathways in ecosystems including watersheds and aquifers, their incorporation into food webs, and molecular to population scale effects on fish and wildlife. These studies are accomplished at a variety of spatial scales from regional...

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.

The Immunomodulation Integrated Science Team focuses on contaminant and pathogen exposures in the environment that might influence the immune systems of wildlife and the connection to their shared environment with humans. In collaboration with public-health officials, the Team also addresses potential human-health risks stemming from similar exposures. If actual risks are identified, this Team...

U.S. Geological Survey scientists and their partners utilize laboratory and field studies and existing information to improve understanding of anticoagulant rodenticide exposure and effects to wild birds.

The Energy Lifecycle Integrated Science Team focuses on the potential for contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from energy resource activities including, extraction, production, transportation, storage, extraction, waste management and restoration. Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be distinguished from actual risks, if any. If actual risks are...

During a laboratory exposure study, tadpole movement decreased with increased concentrations of clothianidin, a neonicotinoid pesticide. Decreased movement could affect a tadpole’s ability to forage, escape predation, and metamorphose before ponds dry.

The presence of testicular oocytes (intersex) in male smallmouth bass ( Micropterus dolomieu ) in the Missisquoi River in Vermont varied over the period of the study and was not related to concentrations of known endocrine disrupting chemicals in the River. Although previous studies have shown linkages between endocrine disrupting chemical exposures and intersex in fish, these results indicate...

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and academic scientists partnered to identify challenges and provide considerations for future scientific study designs to advance our understanding of the often subtle sublethal effects of contaminants on individuals, populations, communities, and entire aquatic food webs.

Science from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other entities has shown that a mixture of natural and synthetic estrogens and other similar chemicals are discharged from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to streams and rivers.

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...