Zoltan Szabo
A Research Hydrologist with the USGS New Jersey Water Science Center, specializing in investigating the occurrence and mobility of radon and radium since 1985, has been the national leader in defining the occurrence of short-lived radium-224 in groundwater. His recent work has expanded to the occurrence of a broad suite of "emerging" contaminants in groundwater and surface water.
Led the radionuclide occurrence and mobility assessment for the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program, with focus on National Radium occurrence. He has co-authored the NAWQA cycle III 10-year research plan for radionuclides. He worked on methods development for radionuclide analyses, included in Standard Methods, and analytical methods challenges of complex matrices including high TDS natural waters and waste brines. He has worked with isotopes as tracers of ground-water movement, including use of tritium, helium-3, and stable isotopes of nitrogen and strontium. He has been working on characterizing waste streams from septic tanks affecting ground-water quality and sewage discharge affecting surface water, as well as examining the effect of various treatment systems for these compounds. He has also been working on toxicology of sediments. He has helped design, test and implement "ultra-clean" ground-water sampling protocols for trace elements, including mercury, and is working on defining mercury distribution in the environment for coastal regions. He has expanded into “emerging” contaminants in ground/surface water, including various short-lived radionuclides, organic compounds, and the “species” of mercury and arsenic. He has designed studies to document the effects of natural isotope variations on variability in gross alpha-particle activity in ground water and effects of holding time after sample collection.
He has more than 65 full length publications and more than 100 abstracts, mostly devoted to radionuclide occurrence and mercury chemistry.
Education and Certifications
MS in Geology, Ohio State University, thesis on strontium isotopes as groundwater flow tracers
Affiliations and Memberships*
USGS NAWQA Program Trace-Element Synthesis Team on radionuclide occurrence
NIEHS (National Institute Environmental Health & Safety) Superfund Basic Research Program Committee (SBRP)
American Water Works Assoc. Research Foundation (AWWARF) Radionuclide Technical Advisory Committee
Technical advisor to the USGS NWQL (National Water Quality Laboratory) to the radionuclide and tritium-helium analytical services and associated contracts
Collaborates with researchers at local universities and serves as a committee member for graduate student candidates or as senior project advisor
Honors and Awards
Recipient of American Water Works Assoc. Researcher of the Year (2007, NJ Chapter).
Won the USGS Report of the Year Award for the Northeastern USA sparking EPA’s efforts to define occurrence of radium.
Abstracts and Presentations
One of three authors cited for radionuclide studies by USEPA in the Radionuclide Rule of 2000 and the accompanying Radionuclide NODA (Notice of Data Availability).
Science and Products
Measuring thoron (220Rn) in natural waters
Radon-222 occurrence in ground water in New Jersey, with emphasis on the Highlands Province
Occurrence and distribution of mercury in the surficial aquifer, Long Neck Peninsula, Sussex County, Delaware, 2003–04
Overview of investigations into mercury in ground water, soils, and septage, New Jersey coastal plain
Pore-Water Quality in the Clay-Silt Confining Units of the Lower Miocene Kirkwood Formation and Hypothetical Effects on Water Quality in the Atlantic City 800-Foot Sand, Northeastern Cape May County, New Jersey, 2001
Mercury in ground water, septage, leach-field effluent, and soils in residential areas, New Jersey coastal plain
Radiochemical sampling and analysis of shallow ground water and sediment at the BOMARC Missile Facility, east-central New Jersey, 1999-2000
Occurrence of radium-224, radium-226, and radium-228 in water of the unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, southern New Jersey
Mercury concentrations in water from an unconfined aquifer system, New Jersey coastal plain
A porous silica rock ("tripoli") in the footwall of the Jurassic Úrkút manganese deposit, Hungary: composition, and origin through carbonate dissolution
Occurrence of selected radionuclides in ground water used for drinking water in the United States: A reconnaissance survey, 1998
Changes in sample collection and analytical techniques and effects on retrospective comparability of low-level concentrations of trace elements in ground water
Science and Products
- Science
- Data
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 62
Measuring thoron (220Rn) in natural waters
No abstract available.AuthorsW. C. Burnett, Natasha T. Dimova, Henrieta Dulaiova, Derek Lane-Smith, Bahman Parsa, Zoltan SzaboRadon-222 occurrence in ground water in New Jersey, with emphasis on the Highlands Province
No abstract available.AuthorsZoltan Szabo, Vincent T. DePaulOccurrence and distribution of mercury in the surficial aquifer, Long Neck Peninsula, Sussex County, Delaware, 2003–04
In January 2001, mercury (Hg) was detected (500 nanograms per liter, ng/L, or greater) in the distribution system of the Long Neck Water Company (LNWC), Pot Nets, Delaware. By April 2001, two LNWC production wells had been taken off-line because discharge concentrations of total mercury (HgT) either had exceeded or approached the Federal limit of 2,000 ng/L. From October 2003 through January 2005,AuthorsMichael T. Koterba, A. Scott Andres, Joseph Vrabel, Dianna M. Crilley, Zoltan Szabo, John F. DeWild, George R. Aiken, Betzaida Reyes-PadroOverview of investigations into mercury in ground water, soils, and septage, New Jersey coastal plain
Since the early 1980s, investigations by health departments of eight counties in southern New Jersey, by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), and subsequently by the US Geological Survey (USGS), have shown that Hg concentrations in water tapped by about 600 domestic wells exceed the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 2 μg/L. The wells are finished in the areally extensive unconfiAuthorsJ. L. Barringer, Zoltan SzaboPore-Water Quality in the Clay-Silt Confining Units of the Lower Miocene Kirkwood Formation and Hypothetical Effects on Water Quality in the Atlantic City 800-Foot Sand, Northeastern Cape May County, New Jersey, 2001
Pore water was extracted from clay-silt core samples collected from a borehole at Ocean View, west of Sea Isle City, in northeastern Cape May County, New Jersey. The borehole intersects the lower Miocene Kirkwood Formation, which includes a thick sand and gravel unit between two clay-silt units. The sand and gravel unit forms a major confined aquifer in the region, known as the Atlantic City 800-fAuthorsZoltan Szabo, Elizabeth A. Keller, Rose M. DefaweMercury in ground water, septage, leach-field effluent, and soils in residential areas, New Jersey coastal plain
Water samples were collected from domestic wells at an unsewered residential area in Gloucester County, New Jersey where mercury (Hg) concentrations in well water were known to exceed the USEPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 2000 ng/L. This residential area (the CSL site) is representative of more than 70 such areas in southern New Jersey where about 600 domestic wells, sampled previously by SAuthorsJ. L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, D. Schneider, W.D. Atkinson, R.A. GallagherRadiochemical sampling and analysis of shallow ground water and sediment at the BOMARC Missile Facility, east-central New Jersey, 1999-2000
A field sampling experiment was designed using low-flow purging with a portable pump and sample-collection equipment for the collection of water and sediment samples from observation wells screened in the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system to determine radionuclide or trace-element concentrations for various size fractions. Selected chemical and physical characteristics were determined for water samAuthorsZoltan Szabo, Otto S. Zapecza, Jeannette H. Oden, Donald E. RiceOccurrence of radium-224, radium-226, and radium-228 in water of the unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, southern New Jersey
Water in the unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system in the New Jersey Coastal Plain contains elevated concentrations (above 3 pCi/L (picocuries per liter)) of the alpha-particle-emitting radionuclide radium-224. Previously, water from the aquifer system had been found to contain radium-226 and radium-228. This observation is of concern because the previously undetected presence of radium-224AuthorsZoltan Szabo, Vincent T. dePaul, Thomas F. Kraemer, Bahman ParsaMercury concentrations in water from an unconfined aquifer system, New Jersey coastal plain
Concentrations of total mercury (Hg) from 2 μg/L (the USEPA maximum contaminant level) to 72 μg/L in water from about 600 domestic wells in residential parts of eight counties in southern New Jersey have been reported by State and county agencies. The wells draw water from the areally extensive (7770 km2) unconfined Kirkwood–Cohansey aquifer system, in which background concentrations of Hg are aboAuthorsJ. L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, L. J. Kauffman, T. H. Barringer, P. E. Stackelberg, T. Ivahnenko, S. Rajagopalan, D. P. KrabbenhoftA porous silica rock ("tripoli") in the footwall of the Jurassic Úrkút manganese deposit, Hungary: composition, and origin through carbonate dissolution
The mineralogical, chemical, and isotopic compositions were determined for a white tripoli from the footwall of the Jurassic Úrkút Mn-oxide ore deposit in the Bakony Mountains, Hungary. The tripoli consists of quartz and chalcedony, with SiO2 contents up to 100 wt.%; consequently, trace-element contents are very low. Oxygen isotopes and quartz crystallinity indicate a low-temperature diagenetic orAuthorsMarta Polgari, Zoltan Szabo, Magda Szabo-Drubina, James R. Hein, Hsueh-Wen YehOccurrence of selected radionuclides in ground water used for drinking water in the United States: A reconnaissance survey, 1998
The U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Water Works Association, and the American Water Works Service Company, completed a targeted national reconnaissance survey of selected radionuclides in public ground-water supplies. Radionuclides analyzed included radium-224 (Ra-224), radium-226 (Ra-226), radium-228 (Ra-228), polonium-210 (Po-2AuthorsMichael J. Focazio, Zoltan Szabo, Thomas F. Kraemer, Ann H. Mullin, Thomas H. Barringer, Vincent T. dePaulChanges in sample collection and analytical techniques and effects on retrospective comparability of low-level concentrations of trace elements in ground water
Ground-water sampling techniques were modified to reduce random low-level contamination during collection of filtered water samples for determination of trace-element concentrations. The modified sampling techniques were first used in New Jersey by the US Geological Survey in 1994 along with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis to determine the concentrations of 18 traceAuthorsT. Ivahnenko, Z. Szabo, J. Gibs - News
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