Office of Research and Development Publications

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The potential for environmental chemicals to produce birth defects is largely unknown. Mouse embryonic stem cells were used to profile the bioactivity of chemicals on the EPA Contaminant Candidate List 4 (CCL4). Differentiation and cytotoxicity were evaluated for 81 non-volatile ...

An IRIS Assessment Plan (IAP) communicates to the public the plan for assessing each individual chemical and includes summary information on the IRIS Program’s scoping and initial problem formulation; objectives and specific aims for the assessment; the PECO (Populations, Exposur...

The Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII) has been active since 2010 with the aim of building a coordinated international effort on regional scale air quality modelling and evaluation, involving the modelling communities of North America and Europe. Over ...

Climate change is already affecting cities and urbanized regions bringing growing attention to current and future climate effects on urban ecosystems and biodiversity. Almost all of the impacts of climate change have direct or indirect consequences for urban ecosystems, biodivers...

The balance of abiotic and biotic stressors experienced by a species likely varies across its range, resulting in spatially heterogeneous limitations on the species' demographic rates. Support for spatial variation in stressors (often latitudinal gradients) has been found in many...

Microcystins are the most common group of cyanobacterial hepatotoxins found in freshwater in the U.S., and microcystin-LR (MCLR) is one of the most common forms. Understanding its spectrum of effects and dose-response relationships depends on consistent experimental results which...

Presentation at the US EPA Small Drinking Water Workshop, Small Systems Challenges and Solutions, Cincinnati, OH.

A recent paradigm shift from purely biophysical towards social-ecological assessment of watersheds has been proposed to understand, monitor, and manipulate the myriad interactions between human well-being and the ecosystem services that watersheds provide. However, large-scale, q...

This multi-year pilot study evaluated a proposed field method for its effectiveness in the collection of a benthic macroinvertebrate sample adequate for use in the condition assessment of streams and rivers in the Neuquén Province, Argentina. A total of 13 sites, distributed acro...

Understanding the risks of biological invasion posed by ballast water—whether in the context of compliance testing, routine monitoring, or basic research—is fundamentally an exercise in biodiversity assessment, and as such should take advantage of the best tools available for tac...

Wetlands across the globe provide extensive ecosystem services. However, many wetlands – especially those surrounded by uplands, often referred to as geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs) – remain poorly protected. Protection and restoration of wetlands frequently requires info...

In this study, we investigated gene expression changes in three bacterial strains (Escherichia coli C3000, Escherichia coli O157:H7 B6914, and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212), commonly used as indicators of water quality and as control strains in clinical, food, and water micro...

Somatic and F+ coliphages are promising alternative fecal indicators, but current detection methods are hindered by lower levels of coliphages in surface waters compared to traditional bacterial fecal indicators. We evaluated the ability of dead-end hollow fiber ultrafiltration (...

In a previous study, we found that rice-straw biochar degraded and removed hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) through coupled adsorption-biodegradation. However, few studies have determined whether biochar affects HOC isomer degradation and isomer-selective biodegradation or...

Intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) are watercourses that cease flow at some point in time and space. Arguably Earth's most widespread type of flowing water, IRES are expanding where Anthropocenic climates grow drier and human demands for water escalate. However, IR...

Because Clostridium perfringens spores are both specific to sewage contamination and environmentally stable, they are considered as possible conservative indicators of human fecal contamination and possible surrogates for environmentally stable pathogens. This review discusses th...

The observed strong sorption of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) to biochar presents potential implications for HOCs bioavailability and bioaccessibility in sediments, while biochar could impact sediment microbial ecology. However, the comprehensive study on the effects of...

Arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) are two contaminants of concern associated with urban gardening. In Puerto Rico, data currently is limited on As and Pb levels in urban garden soils, soil metal (loid) bioaccessibility, and uptake of As and Pb in soil by edible plants grown in the regio...

Bacteriophages have been used in soil column studies for the last several decades as surrogates to study the fate and transport behavior of enteric viruses in groundwater. However, recent studies have shown that the transport behavior of bacteriophages and enteric viruses in poro...

The egg yolk precursor protein vitellogenin is widely used as a biomarker of estrogen exposure in male fish. However, standardized methodology is lacking and little is known regarding the reproducibility of results among laboratories using different equipment, reagents, protocols...

Purpose of Review:  Urea has been utilized as a reductant in diesel fuels to lower emission of nitrogen oxides, igniting interest in probable human health hazards associated with exposure to exogenous urea. Here, we summarize and update key findings on potential health ...

An EPA Western Ecology Division (WED) watershed modeling team has been working with the Snoqualmie Tribe Environmental and Natural Resources Department to develop VELMA watershed model simulations of the effects of historical and future restoration and land use practices on strea...

Presentation

The weathering release rate of base cations (BCw) from soil minerals is fundamentally important for terrestrial ecosystem growth, function, and sensitivityto acid deposition. Understanding BCw is necessary to reduce or prevent damage to acid-sensitive natural ...

This presentation is an overview of in situ thermal remediation technologies that are used to remediate organic contaminants from soils and groundwater. The thermal technologies to be covered include steam enhanced extraction, electrical resistance...