Publications

A variety of guidelines have been proposed in recent years for linking selenium concentrations in the whole body of fish or in diet with adverse effects in fish. Diverging viewpoints seem to be forming separating groups supporting either the low-selenium guidelines proposed by the government and academic researchers or the high-selenium guidelines proposed by other researchers. Recently...

Flooding and high ground-water levels after large or frequent rainstorms have occurred in an area of about 30 square miles along the eastern bank of the Cedar River from Cedar Falls in northwest Black Hawk County to Janesville in southwest Bremer County, Iowa. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Black Hawk County, conducted a hydrologic study of the Cedar River alluvium in...

Assessing the distribution of arsenic in ground water from community-water supplies, private supplies, or monitoring wells is part of the process of determining the risk of arsenic contamination of drinking water in Illinois. Lifestyle, genetic, and environmental factors make certain members of the population more susceptible to adverse health effects from repeated exposure to drinking...

Water samples were collected in streams of the Eastern Iowa Basins study unit from 1996 to 1998 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. More than 350 samples were collected to document the occurrence, distribution, and transport of pesticides and pesticide degradates. The Eastern Iowa Basins study unit encompasses about 50,500 square...

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds are ubiquitous in ambient surface soils in the city of Chicago, Illinois. PAH concentrations in samples collected in June 2001 and January 2002 were typically in the following order from highest to lowest: fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, phenanthrene, benzo(a)pyrene, chrysene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, indeno(1...

Changes in herbicide use in the Midwestern United States have been substantial over the last 5 years. Most significant is a tripling in the use of glyphosate (N-[phosphonomethyl]glycin). Over this same time period (1997­2001), atrazine use increased by 20 percent and acetochlor use increased by 10 percent, while cyanazine use decreased by 99 percent, alachlor use decreased by 70 percent...

The micronucleus test using erythrocytes of the peripheral blood of fish is often conducted to evaluate the genotoxic effects of pollutants under experimental and natural conditions. This report presents information on the production of micronuclei and other nuclear anomalies in erythrocytes of medaka (Oryzias latipes) exposed to three polychlorinated naphthalene (PCN) formulations...

No abstract available.

Mangrove forests dominate in the intertidal zones of the tropical extent of the coast about the Gulf of Mexico, USA. Global climate change forecasts suggest that these coastal forests will be among those ecosystems most immediately threatened by projected increases in sea level and hurricanes. The interactive effects of environmental conditions that prevail in these forests and the...

Many wildlife preserves and refuges in coastal areas of our nation are slowly being inundated by rising sea-level. Land elevation and tidal flooding are key factors controlling the extent and zonation of coastal habitats. Warming of our global environment threatens to speed the rate of sea-level rise and perhaps further amplify the detrimental effects of tropical storms, droughts, and...