Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).

Filter Total Items: 3784

Nitrate isotopes in groundwater systems Nitrate isotopes in groundwater systems

Nitrate contamination, often associated with agricultural activities, is a major problem in some shallow aquifers and is increasingly becoming a threat to groundwater supplies (Gillham and Cherry, 1978; Ronen et al., 1983; Spalding and Exner, 1991). The intake of high levels of nitrate can cause methemoglobinemia in infants, and there is substantial evidence collected from animal...
Authors
Carol Kendall, Ramon Aravena

Metals transport in the Sacramento River, California, 1996-1997; Volume 2: Interpretation of metal loads Metals transport in the Sacramento River, California, 1996-1997; Volume 2: Interpretation of metal loads

Metals transport in the Sacramento River, northern California, from July 1996 to June 1997 was evaluated in terms of metal loads from samples of water and suspended colloids that were collected on up to six occasions at 13 sites in the Sacramento River Basin. Four of the sampling periods (July, September, and November 1996; and May-June 1997) took place during relatively low-flow...

Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey Organic Geochemistry Research Group: Determination of selected herbicides and their degradation products in water using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey Organic Geochemistry Research Group: Determination of selected herbicides and their degradation products in water using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

A method for the extraction and analysis of eight herbicides and five degradation products using solid-phase extraction from natural water samples followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry is presented in this report. This method was developed for dimethenamid; flufenacet; fluometuron and its degradation products, demethylfluometuron (DMFM), 3-(trifluromethyl)phenylurea (TFMPU), 3...
Authors
J.L. Kish, E.M. Thurman, E.A. Scribner, L.R. Zimmerman

Approaches to modelling uranium (VI) adsorption on natural mineral assemblages Approaches to modelling uranium (VI) adsorption on natural mineral assemblages

Component additivity (CA) and generalised composite (GC) approaches to deriving a suitable surface complexation model for description of U(VI) adsorption to natural mineral assemblages are pursued in this paper with good success. A single, ferrihydrite-like component is found to reasonably describe uranyl uptake to a number of kaolinitic iron-rich natural substrates at pH > 4 in the CA...
Authors
T.D. Waite, J.A. Davis, B.R. Fenton, T.E. Payne

Dating young groundwater with sulfur hexafluoride: Natural and anthropogenic sources of sulfur hexafluoride Dating young groundwater with sulfur hexafluoride: Natural and anthropogenic sources of sulfur hexafluoride

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is primarily of anthropogenic origin but also occurs naturally. The troposphere concentration of SF6 has increased from a steady state value of 0.054±0.009 to more than 4 parts per trillion volume during the past 40 years. An analytical procedure was developed for measuring concentrations of SF6 to less than 0.01 fmol/L in water. Groundwater can be dated with...
Authors
Eurybiades Busenberg, Niel Plummer

Advances in solid-phase extraction disks for environmental chemistry Advances in solid-phase extraction disks for environmental chemistry

The development of solid-phase extraction (SPE) for environmental chemistry has progressed significantly over the last decade to include a number of new sorbents and new approaches to SPE. One SPE approach in particular, the SPE disk, has greatly reduced or eliminated the use of chlorinated solvents for the analysis of trace organic compounds. This article discusses the use and...
Authors
E.M. Thurman, K. Snavely

Dynamics of nutrient cycling and related benthic nutrient and oxygen fluxes during a spring phytoplankton bloom in South San Francisco Bay (USA) Dynamics of nutrient cycling and related benthic nutrient and oxygen fluxes during a spring phytoplankton bloom in South San Francisco Bay (USA)

Benthic oxygen uptake and nutrient releases of N, P and Si were measured weekly at 2 sites in South San Francisco Bay around the 1996 spring bloom. Exchanges across the sediment-water interface were estimated from whole core incubations performed in the laboratory at in situ temperature and in dark. Fluxes changed significantly on a weekly time scale. Over a period of 15 wk the fluxes of...
Authors
C. Grenz, J. E. Cloern, S.W. Hager, B.E. Cole

Strontium isotope geochemistry of groundwaters and streams affected by agriculture, Locust Grove, MD Strontium isotope geochemistry of groundwaters and streams affected by agriculture, Locust Grove, MD

The effects of agriculture on the isotope geochemistry of Sr were investigated in two small watersheds in the Atlantic coastal plain of Maryland. Stratified shallow oxic groundwaters in both watersheds contained a retrievable record of increasing recharge rates of chemicals including NO3−, Cl, Mg, Ca and Sr that were correlated with increasing fertilizer use between about 1940 and 1990...
Authors
J.K. Böhlke, M. Horan
Was this page helpful?