Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Integrated Science Teams

Biologists, ecologists, toxicologists, hydrologists, chemists, and geographers work together in the field and laboratories across the United States

Learn More

Core Technology Team

Descriptions of specialized capabilities across the Nation

Learn More

Questions We Answer

Examples of how specialized teams of scientists answer high priority environmental health science questions.

Learn More

Featured Science Activities

Science activities are summarized in a series of feature articles

Learn More

Contaminant Biology

Science Centers and scientists supported by Contaminant Biology develop and apply advanced laboratory methods, field investigations, and modeling capabilities to understand toxicity and effects of environmental contaminant and pathogen exposure.  

Featured Science Activities

Scientist holding a yellow warbler

Our Featured Science Articles highlight Environmental Health Program science activities.

See More

GeoHEALTH-USGS

USGS GeoHEALTH logo with globe

The GeoHEALTH–USGS Newsletter—published since 2004—provides information on USGS science activities pertinent to safeguarding the health of fish, wildlife, domesticated animals, and people from environmental exposures to contaminants and pathogens.

Get Newsletter

Highlights

News

link

USGS Releases Strategy for Addressing PFAS Science Gaps

link

Friday's Findings October 15 2021

link

GeoHEALTH-USGS Newsletter, July 2021

View All

Publications

Freshwater neurotoxins and concerns for human, animal, and ecosystemhealth: A review of anatoxin-a and saxitoxin

Toxic cyanobacteria are a concern worldwide because they can adversely affect humans, animals, and ecosystems. However, neurotoxins produced by freshwater cyanobacteria are understudied relative to microcystin. Thus, the objective of this critical review was to provide a comprehensive examination of the modes of action, production, fate, and occurrence of the freshwater neurotoxins anatoxin-a and
By
Contaminant Biology, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

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 species can be found in the Indian and Pacific Ocea
By
Ecosystems, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, National Wildlife Health Center

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 ranged from slightly raised smooth black areas to large n
By
Ecosystems, Contaminant Biology, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Eastern Ecological Science Center
View All

Science

link
Diagram showing per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) movement in the environment.

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...
By
Ecosystems, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology
link

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...
Learn More
link
Two small birds at a bird house

PFAS Transport, Exposure, and Effects

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...
By
Ecosystems, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology
link

PFAS Transport, Exposure, and Effects

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...
Learn More
link
Picture showing satellite data for a lake

Web-Based Tool Developed through Multiagency Effort Allows Visualization of Cyanobacteria Blooms in Lakes and Reservoirs—Steps Toward Public Awareness and Exposure Prevention

A web-based application tool utilizing satellite data—CyANWeb—developed through collaborative interagency efforts was released as part of the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) to help Federal, State, Tribal, and local partners identify when cyanobacterial blooms may be forming. Available through a web browser or as an application, the tool can access, download, and provide data to notify...
By
Ecosystems, Environmental Health, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology
link

Web-Based Tool Developed through Multiagency Effort Allows Visualization of Cyanobacteria Blooms in Lakes and Reservoirs—Steps Toward Public Awareness and Exposure Prevention

A web-based application tool utilizing satellite data—CyANWeb—developed through collaborative interagency efforts was released as part of the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) to help Federal, State, Tribal, and local partners identify when cyanobacterial blooms may be forming. Available through a web browser or as an application, the tool can access, download, and provide data to notify...
Learn More
View All