National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program

Trace elements in the news

• Modeling Predicts Excessive Nitrate and Arsenic in Southwestern U.S. Aquifers (2012)
• Nationwide Radium Testing of Groundwater Shows Most Susceptible Regions are Central U.S. and East Coast (2012)
• Consumer Reports test juices for arsenic and lead (2011)
• Intellectual Impairment in School-Age Children Exposed to Manganese from Drinking Water : Environmental Health Perspectives (2011)
• In Small Doses: Arsenic: Dartmouth, A ten minute movie about the risks associated with exposure to potentially harmful amounts of arsenic in private well water. (2010)

Links

• GeoHealth Newsletter
• Mercury in Stream Ecosystems
• Mercury in the Environment
• Mercury Research Team
• Contaminant Trends in Lake Sediments
• USEPA--Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
• CDC--ToxFAQs
• Health Canada--Radiological guidelines for drinking water
• U. of Sheffield--Periodic Table of the Elements
• More links...

Overview

Trace elements are inorganic chemicals usually occuring in small amounts in nature. Water managers and scientists across the US rate trace elements among the highest-priority issues for the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. NAWQA is studying 31 metals, metalloids, and radionuclides with the goal of understanding their distribution and release by human and natural influences.

Features

• NEW -- Radium Occurrence and Geochemistry in Groundwater in the United States
• NEW -- Trace Elements and Radon in Groundwater Across the United States, 1992-2003: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5059 (2011)
• Arsenic in Groundwater of the United States
• The Effects of Land Use on Fluvial Sediment Chemistry for the Conterminous U.S. -- Results from the first cycle of the NAWQA Program: Trace and major elements, phosphorus, carbon, and sulfur: Science of the Total Environment, vol. 400, issues 1-3. (2008)
• Trends in Metals in Urban and Reference Lake Sediments Across the United States, 1970 to 2001: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 1698-1709. (2006)

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/trace/index.html
Page Contact Information: gs-w_nawqa_info@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified: Wednesday, 09-Jan-2013 12:01:41 EST