Office of Research and Development Publications

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Gene drives are a topic of growing interest since the CRISPR/Cas9 system was discovered. In 2016, the National Academies published a report about science, governance, and engagement related to gene drive research and testing. There are valuable insights in all chapters, but espec...

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 ...

EPA H2O is an open source Geographic Information System (GIS) based demonstration tool, used for assessing Ecosystem Services (ES) at local to regional scales. EPA H2O was developed as a preliminary assessment tool in support of research being conducted in the Tampa Bay, FL USA w...

The EPA has begun to identify and define methodologies for developing maps and mapping tools that allow for an assessment of the health impacts of extreme heat on vulnerable populations. Maps can serve as powerful tools for analysis and communication. They reveal complex spatial ...

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...

In July 2018, EPA released the <i>IRIS Assessment Plan (IAP) for Naphthalene</i> for public review and comment. 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...

Wildland fires and the subsequent smoke and ash can impact water infrastructure, source water, and surface water. There are various aspects of these impacts that are relevant to ORD research. Some of those research questions are captured in the presentation.

This presentation starts with a background on why wildland fires is an important to EPA and the agency mission. Then it goes into the various impacts from wildland fires, and then covers the highlights of various research activities on the topic.

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...

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...

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...

Riparian reforestation is a common restoration action in urban streams, but relatively little is known about the influence of local riparian vegetation in the face of watershed-scale urban land cover. Allochthonous organic matter and benthic algae are important basal energy resou...

Surface water conductivity measurements were used to evaluate the combined contribution of anions in western Pennsylvania from brines discharged by sources such as oil and gas wastewater treatment, coal-fired power plants, and coal mining activities. Conductivity sensor data were...

Metallic nanoparticles (NPs), the most abundant nanomaterials in consumer and industrial products, are the most probable class to enter and potentially affect the environment. In this study, wetland-derived microcosms were incubated with copper nanoparticles (Cu-NP) and ionic CuC...

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 (...

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...

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:&nbsp;&nbsp;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 ...

Presentation

This session presents several EPA efforts to support public health officials in reducing risks from wildland fire smoke. To respond to the critical need for better information on air quality during wildfires, EPA staff will discuss several EPA programs. The redesigned AirNow webs...

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