Experienced personnel use proven field methodologies that enable representative environmental samples to be collected. (click on images for larger versions) USGS scientists sampling ground water from a well installed at a beach as part of a study of bacterial contamination at beaches (click on image for larger version)

Emerging Chemical Contaminants

An important component of emerging contaminant research is to determine the environmental occurrence by answering the fundamental questions: What compounds enter the environment? How often and at what levels do they occur? In what mixtures do they occur? These questions are addressed by field reconnaissance studies at national, regional, and local scales.

• National-scale research
  • National Streambed-Sediment Reconnaissance
  • National Source-Water Reconnaissance
  • National Ground-Water Reconnaissance
  • National Stream Reconnaissance
• Local-, State-, and Regional-scale research
  • Water Resources of Colorado
  • Upper Chattahoochee River Basin, Georgia
  • Iowa Urban Centers
  • Select Surface and Wastewater Sites, Iowa
  • Water Resources of Minnesota
  • Blue River Basin, Missouri and Kansas
  • Platte River, Nebraska
  • Stillwater Basin, Ohio

Emerging Microbial Contaminants

There is no question that bacterial pathogens, viruses, and protozoa, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria can enter the environment. The source of these contaminants is generally fecal contamination through release of human and animal wastes to the environment. However, little is known about the actual occurrence of specific microbial pathogens in the environment, or their relation to traditional microbiological water quality criteria. This project investigates the occurrence of selected bacterial pathogens in water at the national and watershed scales, determines their potential for virulence and antibiotic resistance by examining the occurrence of genes for these traits, and relates findings to microbial water quality criteria and to chemical measures of water quality, including the occurrence of emerging chemical contaminants.

• National-scale research
• Local-, state-, and regional-scale research

Related Headlines

• Emerging Contaminants Targeted in a Reconnaissance of Ground Water and Untreated Drinking-Water Sources
• USGS Scientists Contribute to New Book on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment
• National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals, Hormones and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams is Making an Impact
• "National Reconnaissance of Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in Streams" Named as One of the Top 100 Science Stories of the Year
• New Results on Wastewater Contaminants National Reconnaissance

More Information

• Emerging Contaminants Environmental Occurrence Bibliography

New Publications

Upcoming Publications

• Wastewater effluent, combined sewer overflows, and other sources of organic compounds to Lake Champlain: Phillips, P.J., and Chalmers, A.T., Journal of the American Water Works Association (IN PRESS).

Newly Published

• A national reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States--II. Untreated drinking water sources: Focazio, M.J., Kolpin, D.W., Barnes, K.K., Furlong, E.T., Meyer, M.T., Zaugg, S.D., Barber, L.B., and Thurman, E.M., 2008, Science of the Total Environment, v. 402, no. 2-3, p. 201-216, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.02.021.
• A national reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States--I. Groundwater: Barnes, K.K., Kolpin, D.W., Furlong, E.T., Zaugg, S.D., Meyer, M.T., and Barber, L.B., 2008, Science of the Total Environment, v. 402, no. 2-3, p. 192-200, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.04.028.
• Bioaccumulation of pharmaceuticals and other anthropogenic waste indicators in earthworms from agricultural soil amended with biosolid or swine manure: Kinney, C.A., Furlong, E.T., Kolpin, D.W., Burkhardt, M.R., Zaugg, S.D., Werner, S.L., Bossio, J.P., and Benotti, M.J., 2008, Environmental Science and Technology, v. 42, no. 6, p. 1863-1870, doi:10.1021/es702304c.