Publications
Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).
Filter Total Items: 3785
Assessment of metal loads in watersheds affected by acid mine drainage by using tracer injection and synoptic sampling: Cement Creek, Colorado, USA Assessment of metal loads in watersheds affected by acid mine drainage by using tracer injection and synoptic sampling: Cement Creek, Colorado, USA
Watersheds in mineralized zones may contain many mines, each of which can contribute to acidity and the metal load of a stream. In this study the authors delineate hydrogeologic characteristics determining the transport of metals from the watershed to the stream in the watershed of Cement Creek, Colorado. Combining the injection of a chemical tracer, to determine a discharge, with...
Authors
B. A. Kimball, R.L. Runkel, K. Walton-Day, K.E. Bencala
15N NMR investigation of the covalent binding of reduced TNT amines to soil humic acid, model compounds, and lignocellulose 15N NMR investigation of the covalent binding of reduced TNT amines to soil humic acid, model compounds, and lignocellulose
The five major reductive degradation products of TNT-4ADNT (4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene), 2ADNT (2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene), 2,4DANT (2,4-diamino-6-nitrotoluene), 2,6DANT (2,6-diamino-4-nitrotoluene), and TAT (2,4,6-triaminotoluene)-labeled with 15N in the amine positions, were reacted with the IHSS soil humic acid and analyzed by 15N NMR spectrometry. In the absence of catalysts, all...
Authors
K. A. Thorn, K. R. Kennedy
Used motor oil as a source of MTBE, TAME, and BTEX to ground water Used motor oil as a source of MTBE, TAME, and BTEX to ground water
Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), the widely used gasoline oxygenate, has been identified as a common ground water contaminant, and BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) have long been associated with gasoline spills. Because not all instances of ground water contamination by MTBE and BTEX can be attributed to spills or leaking storage tanks, other potential sources...
Authors
R.J. Baker, E.W. Best, A. L. Baehr
Isotope-abundance variations of selected elements (IUPAC technical report) Isotope-abundance variations of selected elements (IUPAC technical report)
Documented variations in the isotopic compositions of some chemical elements are responsible for expanded uncertainties in the standard atomic weights published by the Commission on Atomic Weights and Isotopic Abundances of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. This report summarizes reported variations in the isotopic compositions of 20 elements that are due to physical...
Authors
T.B. Coplen, J.K. Böhlke, P. De Bievre, T. Ding, N.E. Holden, J.A. Hopple, H.R. Krouse, A. Lamberty, H.S. Peiser, K. Revesz, S.E. Rieder, K.J.R. Rosman, E. Roth, P.D.P. Taylor, R.D. Vocke, Y.K. Xiao
Anaerobic oxidation of arsenite in Mono Lake water and by a facultative, arsenite-oxidizing chemoautotroph, strain MLHE-1 Anaerobic oxidation of arsenite in Mono Lake water and by a facultative, arsenite-oxidizing chemoautotroph, strain MLHE-1
Arsenite [As(III)]-enriched anoxic bottom water from Mono Lake, California, produced arsenate [As(V)] during incubation with either nitrate or nitrite. No such oxidation occurred in killed controls or in live samples incubated without added nitrate or nitrite. A small amount of biological As(III) oxidation was observed in samples amended with Fe(III) chelated with nitrolotriacetic acid...
Authors
Ronald S. Oremland, S.E. Hoeft, J.M. Santini, N. Bano, R.A. Hollibaugh, J.T. Hollibaugh
A new metric for determining the importance of transient storage A new metric for determining the importance of transient storage
A review of various metrics used to characterize transient storage indicates that none of the existing measures successfully integrate the interaction between advective velocity and the transient storage parameters (storage zone area, storage zone exchange coefficient). Further, 2 existing metrics are related to mean travel time, a quantity that is independent of the storage zone...
Authors
R.L. Runkel
Water-chemistry data for selected springs, geysers, and streams in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1999-2000 Water-chemistry data for selected springs, geysers, and streams in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1999-2000
Sixty-seven water analyses are reported for samples collected from 44 hot springs and their overflow drainages and two ambient-temperature acid streams in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) during 1990-2000. Thirty-seven analyses are reported for 1999, 18 for June of 2000, and 12 for September of 2000. These water samples were collected and analyzed as part of research investigations in YNP...
Authors
James W. Ball, R. Blaine McCleskey, D. Kirk Nordstrom, JoAnn M. Holloway, Philip L. Verplanck, Sabin A. Sturtevant
Hydrology and chemistry of floodwaters in the Yolo Bypass, Sacramento River system, California, during 2000 Hydrology and chemistry of floodwaters in the Yolo Bypass, Sacramento River system, California, during 2000
Discharges to and floodwaters in the Yolo Bypass were sampled during winter and spring, 2000. The primary purpose of the study was to link changes in water quality in the Yolo Bypass to inflows from the Sacramento River (over Fremont Weir) and from four local streams that discharge to the west side of the floodplain. Specific conductance, chloride, sulfate, dissolved inorganic nutrients...
Authors
Laurence E. Schemel, Marisa H. Cox, Stephen W. Hager, Theodore R. Sommer
Role of environmental variability in evaluating stressor effects Role of environmental variability in evaluating stressor effects
In this chapter, we discuss how environmental variability affects the exposure of organisms and ecological systems to stressors, and give guidance on how to understand influences of stressors. We consider the characteristics of environmental variability and issues relating to the measurement of environmental variation. We discuss how to select the optimal indicators of ecological...
Authors
Samuel N. Luoma
Method of analysis and quality-assurance practices by the U. S. Geological Survey Organic Geochemistry Research Group—Determination of four selected mosquito insecticides and a synergist in water using liquid-liquid extraction and gas chromatography/mass Method of analysis and quality-assurance practices by the U. S. Geological Survey Organic Geochemistry Research Group—Determination of four selected mosquito insecticides and a synergist in water using liquid-liquid extraction and gas chromatography/mass
A method of analysis and quality-assurance practices were developed for the determination of four mosquito insecticides (malathion, metho-prene, phenothrin, and resmethrin) and one synergist (piperonyl butoxide) in water. The analytical method uses liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Good precision and accuracy were demonstrated in reagent...
Authors
L.R. Zimmerman, A.P. Strahan, E.M. Thurman
Benthic flux of dissolved nickel into the water column of south San Francisco Bay Benthic flux of dissolved nickel into the water column of south San Francisco Bay
Field and laboratory studies were conducted between April, 1998 and May, 1999 to provide the first direct measurements of the benthic flux of dissolved (0.2-micron filtered) nickel between the bottom sediment and water column at three sites in the southern component of San Francisco Bay (South Bay), California. Dissolved nickel and predominant ligands (represented by dissolved organic...
Authors
B.R. Topping, J.S. Kuwabara, Francis Parcheso, S.W. Hager, A.J. Arnsberg, Fred Murphy
Cross-hole radar scanning of two vertical, permeable, reactive-iron walls at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Cross-hole radar scanning of two vertical, permeable, reactive-iron walls at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
A pilot-scale study was conducted by the U.S. Army National Guard (USANG) at the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to assess the use of a hydraulic-fracturing method to create vertical, permeable walls of zero-valent iron to passively remediate ground water contaminated with chlorinated solvents. The study was conducted near the source area of the...
Authors
John W. Lane, Peter K. Joesten, Jennifer G. Savoie