Publications

Acute 96-h ammonia toxicity to three-month-old juvenile mussels (Lampsilis siliquoidea) was evaluated in four treatments (water-only, water-only with feeding, water and soil, and water and sand) using an exposure unit designed to maintain consistent pH and ammonia concentrations in overlying water and in pore water surrounding the substrates. Median effect concentrations (EC50s) for...

This is the second part of a study that evaluates the influence of nonpoint sources on the sediment quality of five adjacent streams within the metropolitan Kansas City area, central United States. Physical, chemical, and toxicity data (Hyalella azteca 28-day whole-sediment toxicity test) for 29 samples collected in 2003 were used for this evaluation, and the potential causes for the...

American kestrels (Falco sparverius) were fed diets containing methylmercury chloride (MeHg) at 0, 0.6, 1.7, 2.8, 3.9, or 5.0 µg/g (dry wt) starting approximately eight weeks before the onset of egg laying. Dietary treatment was terminated after 12 to 14 weeks, and unhatched eggs were collected for Hg analysis. Blood samples were collected after four weeks of treatment and the...

A capillary separation method that incorporates pH-mediated stacking is employed for the simultaneous determination of circulating steroid hormones in plasma from Perca flavescens (yellow perch) collected from natural aquatic environments. The method can be applied to separate eight steroid standards: progesterone, 17α,20β-dihydroxypregn-4-en-3-one, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, testosterone...

A physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) model was developed to describe the uptake, distribution, and elimination of methylmercury (CH 3Hg) in female American kestrels. The model consists of six tissue compartments corresponding to the brain, liver, kidney, gut, red blood cells, and remaining carcass. Additional compartments describe the elimination of CH3Hg to eggs and growing...

Archived Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) eggs (N = 16) collected in 1993 from three colonies on the Mississippi River in Minnesota were analyzed in 2007 for perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). One of the three colonies, Pig's Eye, was located near a presumed source of PFCs. Based on a multivariate analysis, the pattern of nine PFC concentrations...

Toxicity of lead, cadmium, or zinc to early life stages of freshwater mussels (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea; Neosho mucket, L. rafinesqueana) was evaluated in 48‐h exposures with mussel larvae (glochidia), in 96‐h exposures with newly transformed (5‐d‐old) and two‐ or six‐month‐old juvenile mussels, or in 28‐d exposures with two‐ or four‐month‐old mussels in reconstituted soft water...

The laying order of tree swallow eggs was identified from the Housatonic River, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, USA, and eggs were chemically analyzed individually to document possible effects of laying order on organic contaminant and inorganic element concentrations. Effects of laying order on other parameters such as egg weight, size, and lipid and moisture content also were assessed...

In 2004, spotted sandpipers (Actitis macularia) were studied on the Hudson River near Fort Edward south to New Baltimore, NY and on two river drainages that flow into the Hudson River. Concentrations of 28 organochlorine pesticides, 160 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, and 17 dioxin and furan (PCDD-F) congeners were quantified in eggs collected on and off the Hudson River. The...

While many wildlife species are threatened, some populations have recovered from previous overexploitation, and data linking these population increases with disease dynamics are limited. We present data suggesting that free-ranging elk (Cervus elaphus) are a maintenance host for Brucella abortus in new areas of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Brucellosis seroprevalence in free...

Decommissioned agricultural salt ponds within south San Francisco Bay, California, are in the process of being converted to habitat for the benefit of wildlife as well as water management needs and recreation. Little is known of baseline levels of contaminants in these ponds, particularly mercury (Hg), which has a well established legacy in the Bay. In this study we described spatial and...

"Super-blooms" of cyanobacteria that produce potent and environmentally persistent biotoxins (microcystins) are an emerging global health issue in freshwater habitats. Monitoring of the marine environment for secondary impacts has been minimal, although microcystin-contaminated freshwater is known to be entering marine ecosystems. Here we confirm deaths of marine mammals from microcystin