Paul M Bradley
Science and Products
Ongoing Research to Characterize the Complexity of Chemical Mixtures in Water Resources—Urban Stormwater
A multiagency reconnaissance study of chemicals in urban stormwater, sampled from pipes or ditches during 50 runoff events at 21 sites in 17 states across the United States, demonstrated that stormwater runoff contains complex mixtures of chemicals including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals that are indicative of multiple sources in the watershed.
Pilot Study Provides Information on Contaminant Exposure from Tap Water at Residential and Workplace Sites in the United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with National Institutes of Health, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and academia, completed a pilot study to provide information on contaminant exposure from tap water at 26 locations including public and private supplies. Public-supply tap water generally met enforceable standards for those compounds with standards. Samples consisted...
Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Science Team
Treatment and distribution systems for safe water supply and wastewater recycling and reuse are essential for public health and the environment. Approximately 80 percent of the U.S. population resides in urban areas where public water and wastewater systems are monitored and made safe under state and federal regulations. The remainder of the population depends on self-monitored and maintained...
Sources of Contaminants to Congaree National Park—USGS and National Park Service Working Together
A National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study determined the concentrations, potential for degradation, and potential for aquatic and terrestrial animal exposure to organic contaminants in water and sediment within the flood-plain/aquatic environments of Congaree National Park which is located downstream from urban and...
Study Highlights the Complexity of Chemical Mixtures in United States Streams
A new study highlights the complexity of chemical mixtures in streams and advances the understanding of wildlife and human exposure to complex chemical mixtures.
Recovery of Stream and Adjacent Groundwater After Wastewater Treatment Facility Closure
The hydrology and chemistry of a wastewater-impacted stream and adjacent groundwater responded rapidly (had fewer chemicals at lower concentrations) following wastewater treatment facility shutdown. However, the adjacent shallow groundwater remained a continuing source of some wastewater-derived contaminants to the stream at least 1 year post-shutdown.
U.S. Geological Survey Scientists Complete First Systematic Regional Survey of Algal Toxins in Streams of the Southeastern United States
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists detected microcystin—an algal toxin—in 39 percent of 75 streams assessed in the southeastern United States. These results will inform and become part of a larger, systematic national survey of algal toxins in small streams of the United States.
Assessing Environmental Chemical Mixtures in United States Streams
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are collaborating on a field-based study of chemical mixture composition and environmental effects in stream waters affected by a wide range of human activities and contaminant sources.
Contaminant Transport Models Aid in Understanding Trends of Chlorinated Ethenes in Public Supply Wells
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists used a mass–balance solute–transport model to enhance an understanding of factors affecting chlorinated ethene (CE) concentrations in a public supply well. They found that long–term simulated and measured CEconcentrations were affected by dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) volume, composition, and by the bioavailability of organic carbon that drives...
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Persist Downstream from the Source
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) were transported 2 kilometers downstream of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) outfall in a coastal plain stream. EDCs persisted downstream of the outfall with little change in the numbers of EDCs and limited decreases in EDC concentrations.
Projected urban growth in the Southeastern USA puts small streams at risk
Future land-use development has the potential to profoundly affect the health of aquatic ecosystems in the coming decades. We developed regression models predicting the loss of sensitive fish (R2=0.39) and macroinvertebrate (R2=0.64) taxa as a function of urban and agricultural land uses and applied them to projected urbanization of the rapidly...
Van Metre, Peter C.; Waite, Ian R.; Qi, Sharon L.; Mahler, Barbara J.; Terando, Adam; Wieczorek, Michael; Meador, Michael R.; Bradley, Paul M.; Journey, Celeste A.; Schmidt, Travis S.; Carlisle, Daren M. Urban stormwater: An overlooked pathway of extensive mixed contaminants to surface and groundwaters in the United States
Increasing global reliance on stormwater control measures to reduce discharge to surface water, increase groundwater recharge, and minimize contaminant delivery to receiving waterbodies necessitates improved understanding of stormwater-contaminant profiles. A multi-agency study of organic and inorganic chemicals in urban stormwater from 50 runoff...
Masoner, Jason R.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Bradley, Paul M. Predictive analysis using chemical-gene interaction networks consistent with observed endocrine activity and mutagenicity of U.S. streams
In a recent U.S. Geological Survey/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study assessing >700 organic compounds in 38 streams, in vitro assays indicated generally low estrogen, androgen, and glucocorticoid receptor activities, but identified 13 surface waters with 17β estradiol equivalent (E2Eq) activities greater than the 1 ng/L level of...
Berninger, Jason P.; DeMarini, David M.; Warren, Sarah H.; Simmons, Jane Ellen; Wilson, Vickie S.; Conley, Justin M.; Armstrong, Mikayla D.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Kuivila, Kathryn; Reilly, Timothy J.; Romanok, Kristin M.; Villeneuve, Daniel L.; Bradley, Paul M.; Iwanowicz, Luke R. Potential toxicity of complex mixtures in surface waters from a nationwide survey of United States streams: Identifying in vitro bioactivities and causative chemicals
While chemical analysis of contaminant mixtures remains an essential component of environmental monitoring, bioactivity-based assessments using in vitro systems increasingly play a role in the detection of biological effects. Historically, in vitro assessments focused on a few biological pathways, e.g., aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) or estrogen...
Blackwell, Brett R.; Ankley, Gerald T.; Bradley, Paul M.; Houck, Keith A.; Makarov, Sergei S.; Medvedev, Alexander V.; Swintek, Joe; Villeneuve, Daniel L. Mixed-chemical exposure and predicted effects potential in wadeable southeastern USA streams
Complex chemical mixtures have been widely reported in larger streams but relatively little work has been done to characterize them and assess their potential effects in headwaterstreams. In 2014, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) sampled 54 Piedmont streams over ten weeks and measured 475 unique organic compounds...
Bradley, Paul M.; Journey, Celeste A.; Berninger, Jason P.; Button, Daniel T.; Clark, Jimmy M.; Corsi, Steven R.; DeCicco, Laura A.; Hopkins, Kristina G.; Huffman, Bradley J.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Norman, Julia E.; Nowell, Lisa H.; Qi, Sharon L.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Waite, Ian R. Contaminants of emerging concern in the environment: Where we have been and what does the future hold?
In 1962, Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring alerted the nation to the dangers of manmade chemicals and indiscriminate use of pesticides. DDT was the culprit and its use threatened a variety of wildlife, including the national bird, bald eagles. In 1969, pressured by scientists and the public, the United States banned almost all uses of DDT;...
Battaglin, William A.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Furlong, Edward T.; Glassmeyer, Susan; Blackwell, Brett R.; Corsi, Steven; Meyer, Michael T.; Bradley, Paul M. Reconnaissance of mixed organic and inorganic chemicals in private and public supply tapwaters at selected residential and workplace sites in the United States
Safe drinking water at the point-of-use (tapwater, TW) is a United States public health priority. Multiple lines of evidence were used to evaluate potential human health concerns of 482 organics and 19 inorganics in TW from 13 (7 public supply, 6 private well self-supply) home and 12 (public supply) workplace locations in 11 states. Only uranium (...
Bradley, Paul M.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Romanok, Kristin M.; Smalling, Kelly L.; Focazio, Michael J.; Brown, Juliane B.; Cardon, Mary C.; Carpenter, Kurt; Corsi, Steven R.; DeCicco, Laura A.; Dietze, Julie E.; Evans, Nicola; Furlong, Edward T.; Givens, Carrie E.; Gray, James; Griffin, Dale W.; Higgins, Christopher P.; Hladik, Michelle L.; Iwanowicz, Luke R. ; Journey, Celeste A.; Kuivila, Kathryn ; Masoner, Jason R.; McDonough, Carrie A.; Meyer, Michael T.; Orlando, James L.; Strynar, Mark J.; Weis, Christopher P.; Wilson, Vickie S. Nutrient enrichment in wadeable urban streams in the piedmont ecoregion of the southeastern United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southeastern Stream Quality Assessment (SESQA) collected weekly samples for nitrogen and phosphorus in 76 wadeable streams in the urbanized Piedmont ecoregion of the Southeastern United States, during April–June 2014. Total nitrogen (TN) concentrations in excess of EPA guidelines and statistically greater than at...
Journey, Celeste A.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Button, Daniel T.; Clark, Jimmy M.; Munn, Mark D.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Qi, Sharon L.; Waite, Ian R.; Bradley, Paul M.
Concentrations of lead and other inorganic constituents in samples of raw intake and treated drinking water from the municipal water filtration plant and residential tapwater in Chicago, Illinois, and East Chicago, Indiana, July–December 2017
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Environmental Health Mission Area (EHMA) is providing comprehensive science on sources, movement, and transformation of contaminants and pathogens in watershed and aquifer drinking-water supplies and in built water and wastewater infrastructure (referred to as the USGS Water and Wastewater Infrastructure project)...
Romanok, Kristin M.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Meppelink, Shannon M.; Focazio, Michael J.; Argos, Maria; Hollingsworth, Mary E. ; McCleskey, R. Blaine; Putz, Andrea R.; Stark, Alan ; Weis, Christopher P.; Zehraoui, Abderrahman; Bradley, Paul M.
Methods used for the collection and analysis of chemical and biological data for the Tapwater Exposure Study, United States, 2016–17
In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Environmental Health Mission Area, initiated the Tapwater Exposure Study as part of an infrastructure project to assess human exposure to potential threats from complex mixtures of contaminants. In the pilot phase (2016), samples were collected from 11 States throughout the United States, and in the...
Romanok, Kristin M.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Meppelink, Shannon M.; Argos, Maria; Brown, Juliane B.; Devito, Michael J.; Dietze, Julie E.; Givens, Carrie E.; Gray, James L.; Higgins, Christopher P.; Hladik, Michelle L.; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Loftin, Keith A.; McCleskey, R. Blaine; McDonough, Carrie A.; Meyer, Michael T.; Strynar, Mark J.; Weis, Christopher P.; Wilson, Vickie S.; Bradley, Paul M. Pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides, and other bioactive contaminants in water, sediment, and tissue from Rocky Mountain National Park, 2012–2013
Pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides, and other bioactive contaminants (BCs) are commonly detected in surface water and bed sediment in urban and suburban areas, but these contaminants are understudied in remote locations. In Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Colorado, USA, BCs may threaten the reproductive success and survival of native...
Battaglin, William A.; Bradley, Paul M.; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Journey, Celeste A.; Walsh, Heather L.; Blazer, Vicki S. Widespread occurrence and potential for biodegradation of bioactive contaminants in Congaree National Park, USA
Organic contaminants with designed molecular bioactivity, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals, originate from human and agricultural sources, occur frequently in surface waters, and threaten the structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Congaree National Park in South Carolina (USA) is a vulnerable park unit due to its...
Bradley, Paul M.; Battaglin, William A.; Clark, Jimmy M.; Henning, Frank; Hladik, Michelle L.; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Journey, Celeste A.; Riley, Jeffrey W.; Romanok, Kristin M.