Mission Areas
Environmental Health
The Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology Programs work collaboratively to assess and differentiate the environmental contaminant and pathogen exposures that cause actual health risks versus those that are only perceived. Specialized teams of hydrologists, geologists, chemists, biologists, and geographers work together in the field and laboratories across the United States.
Featured Science Activities
Our Science Feature Articles highlight USGS environmental health science activities.
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The GeoHEALTH-USGS Newsletter provides information on USGS science activities related to safeguarding the health of fish, wildlife, domesticated animals, livestock, and people from environmental exposures to contaminants and pathogens.
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News
President Proposes $971.2 Million FY 2021 Budget for USGS
Budget Focuses on Bringing Science, Facilities, and Infrastructure into the 21st Century
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...
USGS Kicks Off Innovative Project to Study Harmful Algal Blooms in New York
Monitoring Effort Supports State’s Initiative to Combat Potentially Toxic Blooms
Publications
Using information from global climate models to inform policymaking—The role of the U.S. Geological Survey
This report provides an overview of model-based climate science in a risk management context. In addition, it summarizes how the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will continue to follow best scientific practices and when and how the results of this research will be delivered to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other stakeholders to...
Terando, Adam; Reidmiller, David; Hostetler, Steven W.; Littell, Jeremy S.; Beard, T. Douglas; Weiskopf, Sarah R.; Belnap, Jayne; Plumlee, Geoffrey S.
Standardized guide to the examination and necropsy of the horseshoe crab using Limulus polyphemus as Limulidae prototype
The Atlantic, or American, horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) has existed largely unchanged for over 100 million years. Millions of individuals are commonly observed ashore in spring and summer months during spawning events along the entire North American coastline expanding from the East to the Gulf coasts of the United States and Mexico. Other...
Roorda, Katie; Arnold, Jill; Meteyer, Carol; Whitaker, Brent Malignant melanoma of Brown Bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) in Lake Memphremagog, Vermont/Quebec
In 2012, brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) with large, raised, black growths were first reported from multiple areas within the Vermont portion of Lake Memphremagog. Subsequent surveys conducted from 2014 to 2017 at two sites within the lake indicated a prevalence of 30% in adult brown bullhead 200 mm and above total length. These lesions...
Blazer, Vicki S.; Shaw, Cassidy H.; Smith, Cheyenne R; Emerson, P; Jones, Thomas R.