National Water Quality Laboratory
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Our National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and community. Based on guidance from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting our operations to a virtual mode and have minimal staffing within our offices.
Water Science
Analytical Methods Research and Development, Chemical, Radiological and Biological Analysis...
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More than a Century of USGS Water Quality Studies in National Parks
In celebration of the National Park Service Centennial, 1916-2016
Media Advisory: Scientists and Officials Celebrate 40 Years of Groundbreaking Science in Lakewood
Forty years ago, water samples from around the country started flowing into the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Quality Laboratory in Colorado.
Man-made Pollutants Finding Their Way Into Groundwater Through Septic Systems
Pharmaceuticals, hormones and personal care products associated with everyday household activities are finding their way into groundwater through septic systems in New York and New England, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Publications
Pesticides and their degradates in groundwater reflect past use and current management strategies, Long Island, New York, USA
Long Island, New York, has a mix of urban/suburban to agricultural/horticultural land use and nearly 3 million residents that rely on a sole-source aquifer for drinking water. The analysis of shallow groundwater (<40 m below land surface) collected from 54 monitoring wells across Long Island detected 53 pesticides or pesticide degradates....
Fisher, Irene; Phillips, Patrick J.; Bayraktar, Banu; Chen, Shirley; McCarthy, Brendan A.; Sandstrom, Mark W.
Determination of human-use pharmaceuticals in filtered water by direct aqueous injection: high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry
This report describes a method for the determination of 110 human-use pharmaceuticals using a 100-microliter aliquot of a filtered water sample directly injected into a high-performance liquid chromatograph coupled to a triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer using an electrospray ionization source operated in the positive ion mode. The...
Furlong, Edward T.; Noriega, Mary C.; Kanagy, Christopher J.; Kanagy, Leslie K.; Coffey, Laura J.; Burkhardt, Mark R. Presence of the Corexit component dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate in Gulf of Mexico waters after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Between April 22 and July 15, 2010, approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon oil well. Approximately 16% of the oil was chemically dispersed, at the surface and at 1500 m depth, using Corexit 9527 and Corexit 9500, which contain dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DOSS) as a major...
Gray, James L.; Kanagy, Leslie K.; Furlong, Edward T.; Kanagy, Chris J.; McCoy, Jeff W.; Mason, Andrew; Lauenstein, Gunnar