Environmental Toxicology

Pesticides were observed frequently in water, sediment, and the tissue of resident aquatic organisms from an agriculturally dominated estuary along the central California coast according to a collaborative study by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and University of California, Davis scientists published in Marine Pollution Bulletin.

Testing of U.S. streams has detected glucocorticoid and androgen biological activity. In a collaborative study between the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and others, scientists studied the potential for the biological activity in streams of glucocorticoids and androgens hormones—both potential endocrine...

Amphibians from remote locations in California have accumulated several current-use pesticides, including fungicides, in their bodies. A team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists recently reported on field results in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Two fungicides, pyraclostrobin and tebuconazole, and the herbicide simazine were detected frequently in amphibians from all...

“Legacy contaminants” and “contaminants of emerging concern” that persist in the environment are affecting the health of fish and wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. State continue to report impaired water resources due to the persistence and toxicity of some previously banned pollutants. In addition, other contaminants of emerging concern are released to the environment at levels...

Chemical contaminants including herbicides, veterinary pharmaceuticals, and biogenic hormones have been detected at fish nesting sites in the Potomac River watershed where endocrine disruption in smallmouth bass ( Micropterus dolomieu) was also observed. Although these contaminants are known to originate from a variety of human and animal-waste sources, results of a recent U.S. Geological Survey (...

Natural processes in stream ecosystems such as dilution and microbial degradation are known to attenuate some contaminants to below levels that can cause harm to ecosystems. However, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists has shown that many chemicals discharged from municipal wastewater treatment facilities persist for miles downstream at levels known, or suspected, to cause adverse...

Hormones from biosolids applied to fields may be present in rainfall runoff at concentrations that are high enough to impact the health of aquatic organisms if the runoff reaches streams, report scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Colorado State University in Environmental Science and Technology. Artificial rainfall runoff from agricultural test plots where biosolids were applied...

A detergent degradation product (4-nonylphenol) and a biogenic hormone (17β-estradiol) added to the Redwood River, Minnesota, were attenuated by biodegradation and other natural processes. These are the findings of a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and University of Colorado scientists.

The new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Environmental Health Science Strategy is one of seven recently released science strategies that span the portfolio of USGS science. Climate and Land Use Change Core Science Systems Ecosystems Energy and Mineral Resources Environmental Health Natural Hazards Water

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have documented adverse health effects on populations of native soil bacteria exposed to levels of the antibiotic (SMX) below those used to treat diseases (subtherapeutic). Because SMX has been found in environmental waters by many previous studies, the scientists conducted laboratory exposure experiments to determine the effect of SMX on native bacteria...

An international group of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon, Research Station ART (Switzerland) have documented the common occurrence of six phytoestrogens and two mycotoxins in streams across Iowa. Phytoestrogens (derived from plants) and mycotoxins (derived from fungi) are naturally occurring compounds. Scientists have known that phytoestrogens...

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have detected one or more fungicides in 20 of 29 streams across the United States that were sampled during 2005 and 2006 in areas where soybeans are grown. The number of fungicides used has increased significantly since 2002, and very little is known about their occurrence in the environment. For some of the fungicides this is the first data documenting...