Science Inventory

Next >>

Contamination of surface waters often leads to drinking water contamination, degradation of aquatic biota and their habitat and ultimately the decline of the quality of life for both humans and animals. Pathogen contamination, as determined by bacterial fecal indicators, is the l...

EPA-ORD-CPHEA's Michael Pennino and Jana Compton were invited to present on groundwater nitrate at SSWR’s Quarterly Research Area Coordination Team (RACT) meeting for the Nutrients topic SSWR.4 on June 5,  2024.  This meeting brings together the research coordinat...

Although the offshore water of Lake Michigan has been below the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) total phosphorus (TP) spring target concentration of 7 µg L−1 for several decades, higher TP concentrations occur in the nearshore, contributing to the res...

Onsite wastewater treatment systems are a major source of excess nutrients and co-pollutants in groundwater. The high density of septic systems in New England’s coastal watersheds has degraded the quality of drinking and recreational freshwater resources and led to collapse...

This study investigated the presence and human hazards associated with pesticides and other anthropogenic chemicals identified in kale grown in urban and rural environments. Pesticides and related compounds (i.e., surfactants and metabolites) in kale samples were evaluated using ...

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) were a topic of great interest at the 2018 ASLO Summer Meeting in Victoria, B.C., Canada (Fig. 1). This was no surprise, since HABs may become – and already are in some areas – the greatest water quality threat to public health and aquatic ...

Water quality standards are important for protecting and restoring the condition of lakes, rivers, estuaries, and other water bodies in the United States. Given that nutrient pollution continues to be a widespread problem in aquatic systems, the development of numeric nutrient cr...

Excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in lakes can lead to eutrophication, hypoxia, and algal blooms that may harm aquatic life and people.  Some U.S. states have established numeric water quality criteria for nutrients to protect surface waters.  However...

EPA Wildfire Research: Impacts on Air and Water Quality WESTAR-WRAP Spring Business Meeting 2024, Riverside, California Wildland fire smoke impacts millions of people in the United States every year. The EPA’s Office of Research and Development is addressing our increasingl...

In the US there are over 20,000 abandoned hardrock mines that may present risks to human health or the environment from long-term exposure to harmful substances. One site is the Formosa mine Superfund site located in Oregon, US. The site lacks plant cover due to phytotoxic tailin...

  The negative effects of nutrient pollution in streams, rivers, and downstream waterbodies remain widespread global problems. Understanding the cost-effectiveness of different strategies for mitigating nutrient pollution is critical to making informed decisions and definin...

Along urban streams and rivers, various processes, including road salt application, sewage leaks, and weathering of the built environment, contribute to novel chemical cocktails made up of metals, salts, nutrients, and organic matter. Due to heterogeneous land use and a myriad of...

Edge-of-field management practices designed to reduce nutrient pollution in waterways may support or alter critical habitat and ecosystem services in and around agricultural systems. Information on both target and non-target effects is needed to support management decisions as la...

With increasing concerns about freshwater cyanobacteria blooms, there is a need to identify which waterbodies are at risk for developing these blooms, especially those that produce cyanotoxins. To address this concern, we developed spatial statistical models using the US National...

This presentation will review the latest research on inputs, budgets, effects, legacies and management related to non-point source nutrient pollution.  Using examples of nitrogen and phosphorus budgets at the national, regional and local scales, Jana Compton from EPA’s...

Wetland restoration and construction are important land management options for retaining nitrogen and phosphorus and thereby improving water quality at local scales (i.e., at nearby streams). However, limited information exists regarding the cumulative influence of wetlands outsi...

Thoughtful science communication is essential for the success of collaborative, transdisciplinary environmental research. We present an innovative evaluation of a four-year pilot project that took a highly engaged and collaborative approach to managing excess nutrients in the Cap...

This is a public presentation on the potential effects of nutrients in smoke on downwind cyanobacteria blooms. Wildfire activity is increasing in the continental U.S. and can be linked to climate change effects, including rising temperatures and more frequent drought conditions. ...

Anthropogenic disturbances have increased the frequency, area, and intensity of eutrophic events in coastal ecosystems, harming seagrass and macrofauna. The Pawcatuck River and Little Narragansett Bay (CT/RI) is a small, shallow estuary with zones of hypoxia due to algal growth. ...

Impervious surface cover increases peak flows and degrades stream health, contributing to a variety of hydrologic, water quality, and ecological symptoms, collectively known as the urban stream syndrome. Strategies to combat the urban stream syndrome often employ engineering appr...

Plastic pollution is ubiquitous worldwide. Smaller pieces of plastic (<5 mm) denominated as microplastics (MPs) are of particular concern because they can be easily transported throughout the environment. As they travel, MPs can adsorb chemicals or nutrients, and develop a biofil...

Reduced tillage management conservation practices (No-till and Reduced-till) are widely adopted in agriculture; however, understanding their overall effectiveness for water quality protection is challenging. A meta-analysis was conducted to understand and quantify the effectivene...

Despite converting to green and electric sources of power, motorized transportation remains dependent upon conventional synthetic rubber tires for operation. Global dependence upon tires produced from natural rubber and petroleum-based compounds, including plastics, represents a ...

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) produce excessive amounts of cyanotoxins, mainly microcystins (MCs) and anatoxins (ATXs), significantly threatening aquatic ecosystems and public health. Accurately predicting CyanoHABs is essential to develop effective CyanoHAB pre...

This is a requested presentation for the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA) that discusses how ORD is the research arm of the EPA and provides the scientific foundation for EPA to execute its mandate to protect human health and the environment. An overview of the 6 ...