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Publications

Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).

Filter Total Items: 3785

Organic intermediates in the anaerobic biodegradation of coal to methane under laboratory conditions Organic intermediates in the anaerobic biodegradation of coal to methane under laboratory conditions

Organic intermediates in coal fluids produced by anaerobic biodegradation of geopolymers in coal play a key role in the production of methane in natural gas reservoirs. Laboratory biodegradation experiments on sub-bituminous coal from Texas, USA, were conducted using bioreactors to examine the organic intermediates relevant to methane production. Production of methane in the bioreactors...
Authors
William H. Orem, Mary A. Voytek, Elizabeth J. Jones, Harry E. Lerch, Anne L. Bates, M.D. Corum, Peter D. Warwick, Arthur C. Clark

Antidepressant pharmaceuticals in two U.S. effluent-impacted streams: Occurrence and fate in water and sediment and selective uptake in fish neural tissue Antidepressant pharmaceuticals in two U.S. effluent-impacted streams: Occurrence and fate in water and sediment and selective uptake in fish neural tissue

Antidepressant pharmaceuticals are widely prescribed in the United States; release of municipal wastewater effluent is a primary route introducing them to aquatic environments, where little is known about their distribution and fate. Water, bed sediment, and brain tissue from native white suckers (Catostomus commersoni)were collected upstream and atpoints progressively downstream from...
Authors
M.M. Schultz, Edward T. Furlong, Dana W. Kolpin, Stephen L. Werner, H.L. Schoenfuss, Larry B. Barber, Vicki S. Blazer, D.O. Norris, A.M. Vajda

Measurement and modeling of polychlorinated biphenyl bioaccumulation from sediment for the marine polychaete neanthes arenaceodentata and response to sorbent amendment Measurement and modeling of polychlorinated biphenyl bioaccumulation from sediment for the marine polychaete neanthes arenaceodentata and response to sorbent amendment

Bioaccumulation rates of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for the marine polychaete Neanthes arenaceodentata were characterized, including PCB uptake rates from water and sediment, and the effect of sorbent amendment to the sediment on PCB bioavailability, organism growth, and lipid content. Physiological parameters were incorporated into a biodynamic model to predict contaminant uptake...
Authors
E.M.-L. Janssen, Marie Noele Croteau, S. N. Luoma, R.G. Luthy

Hurricane storm surge and amphibian communities in coastal wetlands of northwestern Florida Hurricane storm surge and amphibian communities in coastal wetlands of northwestern Florida

Isolated wetlands in the Southeastern United States are dynamic habitats subject to fluctuating environmental conditions. Wetlands located near marine environments are subject to alterations in water chemistry due to storm surge during hurricanes. The objective of our study was to evaluate the effect of storm surge overwash on wetland amphibian communities. Thirty-two wetlands in...
Authors
Margaret S. Gunzburger, William B. Hughes, William J. Barichivich, Jennifer S. Staiger

Relative vulnerability of public supply wells to VOC contamination in hydrologically distinct regional aquifers Relative vulnerability of public supply wells to VOC contamination in hydrologically distinct regional aquifers

A process-based methodology was used to compare the vulnerability of public supply wells tapping seven study areas in four hydrologically distinct regional aquifers to volatile organic compound (VOC) contamination. This method considers (1) contributing areas and travel times of groundwater flowpaths converging at individual supply wells, (2) the oxic and/or anoxic conditions encountered...
Authors
Leon J. Kauffman, Francis H. Chapelle

The annual cycles of phytoplankton biomass The annual cycles of phytoplankton biomass

Terrestrial plants are powerful climate sentinels because their annual cycles of growth, reproduction and senescence are finely tuned to the annual climate cycle having a period of one year. Consistency in the seasonal phasing of terrestrial plant activity provides a relatively low-noise background from which phenological shifts can be detected and attributed to climate change. Here, we...
Authors
Monika Winder, James E. Cloern

Influence of organic carbon loading, sediment associated metal oxide content and sediment grain size distributions upon Cryptosporidium parvum removal during riverbank filtration operations, Sonoma County, CA Influence of organic carbon loading, sediment associated metal oxide content and sediment grain size distributions upon Cryptosporidium parvum removal during riverbank filtration operations, Sonoma County, CA

This study assessed the efficacy for removing Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts of poorly sorted, Fe- and Al-rich, subsurface sediments collected from 0.9 to 4.9 and 1.7–13.9 m below land surface at an operating riverbank filtration (RBF) site (Russian River, Sonoma County, CA). Both formaldehyde-killed oocysts and oocyst-sized (3 μm) microspheres were employed in sediment-packed flow...
Authors
D.W. Metge, R.W. Harvey, G. R. Aiken, R. Anders, G. Lincoln, James Jasperse

Patterns of mercury dispersion from local and regional emission sources, rural Central Wisconsin, USA Patterns of mercury dispersion from local and regional emission sources, rural Central Wisconsin, USA

Simultaneous real-time changes in mercury (Hg) speciation-reactive gaseous Hg (RGM), elemental Hg (Hg??), and fine particulate Hg (Hg-PM2.5), were determined from June to November 2007, in ambient air at three locations in rural Central Wisconsin. Known Hg emission sources within the airshed of the monitoring sites include: 1) a 1114 megawatt (MW) coal-fired electric utility generating...
Authors
A. Kolker, M.L. Olson, David P. Krabbenhoft, Michael T. Tate, Mark A. Engle

Vadose zone attenuation of organic compounds at a crude oil spill site - Interactions between biogeochemical reactions and multicomponent gas transport Vadose zone attenuation of organic compounds at a crude oil spill site - Interactions between biogeochemical reactions and multicomponent gas transport

Contaminant attenuation processes in the vadose zone of a crude oil spill site near Bemidji, MN have been simulated with a reactive transport model that includes multicomponent gas transport, solute transport, and the most relevant biogeochemical reactions. Dissolution and volatilization of oil components, their aerobic and anaerobic degradation coupled with sequential electron acceptor
Authors
S. Molins, K.U. Mayer, R.T. Amos, Barbara A. Bekins

Hydrodynamic control of phytoplankton loss to the benthos in an estuarine environment Hydrodynamic control of phytoplankton loss to the benthos in an estuarine environment

Field experiments were undertaken to measure the influence of hydrodynamics on the removal of phytoplankton by benthic grazers in Suisun Slough, North San Francisco Bay. Chlorophyll a concentration boundary layers were found over beds inhabited by the active suspension feeders Corbula amurensis and Corophium alienense and the passive suspension feeders Marenzellaria viridis and Laonome...
Authors
Nicole L. Jones, Janet K. Thompson, Kevin R. Arrigo, Stephen G. Monismith
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