Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Science Team

The USGS Environmental Health (EH) Program research where per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances PFAS are found, how they move and change in the environment, how they might affect both ecosystems and human health, and ways to reduce their impact. The three teams focusing on these issues within the EH Program include: 1) the PFAS Integrated Science Team, 2) the PFAS Core Technology Team, and 3) the...

The growing concern of finding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water has led USGS scientists to conduct more comprehensive analyses that encompass an extensive list of compounds that can be found in drinking water. These analyses will develop a more complete drinking water contaminant list that managers can use to make more informed public health decisions.

The Environmental Health Program integrates multi-disciplinary research to tackle the environmental challenges that impact the nation's natural resource assets. By providing comprehensive research and data, the program assesses both actual and perceived risks associated with environmental contaminants and pathogens while supporting variety of uses of our natural resources.

The Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Core Technology Team (CTT) within the Environmental Health Program partners with external and internal stakeholders to develop and apply analytical methods for measuring PFAS in complex matrices, addressing environmental health issues related to transport, distribution, fate, effects, and exposure.

USGS recently (2024) released a strategic vision document that identifies science gaps and prioritizes research relevant to the mission, expertise, and capabilities of the USGS. The intention is for USGS and stakeholders to use this as a starting part for planning, prioritizing, and designing microplastic research projects.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists investigated the movement of human-generated chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals and per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), in groundwater along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. This research led to a better understanding of the movement of wastewater into groundwater, of complex underground flow patterns, and of chemicals present in springs near...

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.

A new interactive dashboard is available to visualize PFAS measurements for 716 tap water samples collected at select sites across the nation between 2016 and 2021 from private and public supplies.

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...

U.S. Geological Survey researchers and public health experts collaborated to determine what contaminants occur in bottled water, which is an increasingly common alternate drinking water source, to broaden their understanding of human exposure to contaminants in drinking water supply chains. Bottled water, like public-supply and private-well tap water supply chains, contained multiple organic...

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists teamed up with public-health epidemiologists to probe for associations between arsenic in drinking water and human-birth outcomes. They reported a modest inverse relation between birth weight and arsenic exposure. Findings indicate that future research efforts using individual-level exposure data such as measured arsenic concentrations in tap water could...

Multiple detections of regulated and unregulated chemical (inorganic, organic) analytes or elements were detected in both privately and publicly supplied tap water samples from 20 residences in Cape Cod, Massachusetts that share a common source of water.