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: 3785

Decomposition of soil organic matter from boreal black spruce forest: Environmental and chemical controls Decomposition of soil organic matter from boreal black spruce forest: Environmental and chemical controls

Black spruce forests are a dominant covertype in the boreal forest region, and they inhabit landscapes that span a wide range of hydrologic and thermal conditions. These forests often have large stores of soil organic carbon. Recent increases in temperature at northern latitudes may be stimulating decomposition rates of this soil carbon. It is unclear, however, how changes in...
Authors
K.P. Wickland, J. C. Neff

Transport and fate of nitrate at the ground-water/surface-water interface Transport and fate of nitrate at the ground-water/surface-water interface

Although numerous studies of hyporheic exchange and denitrification have been conducted in pristine, high-gradient streams, few studies of this type have been conducted in nutrient-rich, low-gradient streams. This is a particularly important subject given the interest in nitrogen (N) inputs to the Gulf of Mexico and other eutrophic aquatic systems. A combination of hydrologic...
Authors
L.J. Puckett, C. Zamora, H. Essaid, J.T. Wilson, H.M. Johnson, M.J. Brayton, J. R. Vogel

Removal of dissolved organic matter by anion exchange: Effect of dissolved organic matter properties Removal of dissolved organic matter by anion exchange: Effect of dissolved organic matter properties

Ten isolates of aquatic dissolved organic matter (DOM) were evaluated to determine the effect that chemical properties of the DOM, such as charge density, aromaticity, and molecular weight, have on DOM removal by anion exchange. The DOM isolates were characterized as terrestrial, microbial, or intermediate humic substances or transphilic acids. All anion exchange experiments were...
Authors
T.H. Boyer, P.C. Singer, G. R. Aiken

Factors controlling nitrogen release from two forested catchments with contrasting hydrochemical responses Factors controlling nitrogen release from two forested catchments with contrasting hydrochemical responses

Quantifying biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen (N) and the associated fluxes to surface waters remains challenging, given the need to deal with spatial and temporal variability and to characterize complex and heterogeneous landscapes. We focused our study on catchments S14 and S15 located in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, USA, which have similar topographic and hydrologic...
Authors
S.F. Christopher, M.J. Mitchell, Michael McHale, E.W. Boyer, Douglas A. Burns, C. Kendall

Mercury, trace elements and organic constituents in atmospheric fine particulate matter, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA: A combined approach to sampling and analysis Mercury, trace elements and organic constituents in atmospheric fine particulate matter, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA: A combined approach to sampling and analysis

Compliance with U.S. air quality regulatory standards for atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is based on meeting average 24 hour (35 μ m−3) and yearly (15 μg m−3) mass‐per‐unit‐volume limits, regardless of PM2.5 composition. Whereas this presents a workable regulatory framework, information on particle composition is needed to assess the fate and transport of PM2.5 and determine...
Authors
A. Kolker, M.A. Engle, W. H. Orem, J.E. Bunnell, H.E. Lerch, D. P. Krabbenhoft, M.L. Olson, J.D. McCord

Evaluation of statistical treatments of left-censored environmental data using coincident uncensored data sets: I. Summary statistics Evaluation of statistical treatments of left-censored environmental data using coincident uncensored data sets: I. Summary statistics

The main classes of statistical treatment of below-detection limit (left-censored) environmental data for the determination of basic statistics that have been used in the literature are substitution methods, maximum likelihood, regression on order statistics (ROS), and nonparametric techniques. These treatments, along with using all instrument-generated data (even those below detection)...
Authors
Ronald C. Antweiler, Howard E. Taylor

A national reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States - I) Groundwater A national reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States - I) Groundwater

As part of the continuing effort to collect baseline information on the environmental occurrence of pharmaceuticals, and other organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs) in the Nation's water resources, water samples were collected from a network of 47 groundwater sites across 18 states in 2000. All samples collected were analyzed for 65 OWCs representing a wide variety of uses and origins...
Authors
K.K. Barnes, D.W. Kolpin, E. T. Furlong, S.D. Zaugg, M. T. Meyer, L. B. Barber

Arsenic(III) fuels anoxygenic photosynthesis in hot spring biofilms from Mono Lake, California Arsenic(III) fuels anoxygenic photosynthesis in hot spring biofilms from Mono Lake, California

Phylogenetic analysis indicates that microbial arsenic metabolism is ancient and probably extends back to the primordial Earth. In microbial biofilms growing on the rock surfaces of anoxic brine pools fed by hot springs containing arsenite and sulfide at high concentrations, we discovered light-dependent oxidation of arsenite [As(III)] to arsenate [As(V)] occurring under anoxic...
Authors
T.R. Kulp, S.E. Hoeft, M. Asao, M.T. Madigan, J.T. Hollibaugh, J.C. Fisher, J.F. Stolz, C.W. Culbertson, L.G. Miller, R.S. Oremland

Prevalence of tumors in brown bullhead from three lakes in southeastern Massachusetts, 2002 Prevalence of tumors in brown bullhead from three lakes in southeastern Massachusetts, 2002

The Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) has been a military base on western Cape Cod since the early 1900s. Contaminated surface water and ground water from the MMR have discharged into several kettle lakes on or near the base. To discover whether the prevalences of tumors and other lesions in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) in these lakes, particularly Ashumet Pond, were...
Authors
Paul C. Baumann, Denis R. LeBlanc, Vicki Blazer, John R. Meier, Stephen T. Hurley, Yasu Kiryu

Use of inverse-modeling methods to improve ground-water-model calibration and evaluate model-prediction uncertainty, Camp Edwards, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Use of inverse-modeling methods to improve ground-water-model calibration and evaluate model-prediction uncertainty, Camp Edwards, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Historical weapons testing and disposal activities at Camp Edwards, which is located on the Massachusetts Military Reservation, western Cape Cod, have resulted in the release of contaminants into an underlying sand and gravel aquifer that is the sole source of potable water to surrounding communities. Ground-water models have been used at the site to simulate advective transport in the...
Authors
Donald A. Walter, Denis R. LeBlanc

Simulated response of water quality in public supply wells to land use change Simulated response of water quality in public supply wells to land use change

Understanding how changes in land use affect water quality of public supply wells (PSW) is important because of the strong influence of land use on water quality, the rapid pace at which changes in land use are occurring in some parts of the world, and the large contribution of groundwater to the global water supply. In this study, groundwater flow models incorporating particle tracking...
Authors
P.B. McMahon, K.R. Burow, L. J. Kauffman, S. M. Eberts, J.K. Böhlke, J.J. Gurdak

Pathogen and chemical transport in the karst limestone of the Biscayne aquifer: 3. Use of microspheres to estimate the transport potential of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts Pathogen and chemical transport in the karst limestone of the Biscayne aquifer: 3. Use of microspheres to estimate the transport potential of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts

The vulnerability of a municipal well in the Northwest well field in southeastern Florida to potential contamination by Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts was assessed in a large‐scale, forced‐gradient (convergent) injection and recovery test. The field study involved a simultaneous pulse introduction of a nonreactive tracer (SF6, an inert gas) and oocyst‐sized (1.6, 2.9, and 4.9 μm diameter...
Authors
Ronald W. Harvey, David W. Metge, Allen M. Shapiro, Robert A. Renken, Christina L. Osborn, Joseph N. Ryan, Kevin J. Cunningham, Lee L. Landkamer
Was this page helpful?