Geology Reports⌕ Search

SEARCH · Geology Reports

Results for “Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
USGS2013

Lead in tissues of mallard ducks dosed with two types of lead shot

Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) were sacrificed one month after ingesting one number 4 all-lead shot or one number 4 lead-iron shot. Livers, kidneys, blood, wingbones, and eggs were analyzed for lead by atomic absorption. Necropsy of sacrificed ducks failed to reveal any of the tissue lesions usually associated with lead poisoning in waterfowl. Lead levels in ducks given all-lead shot averaged about twice those in ducks given lead-iron shot, reflecting the amount of lead in the two types of shot. Lead in the blood of ducks dosed with all-lead shot averaged 0.64 ppm, and 0.28 ppm in ducks given lead-iron shot. Lead residues in livers and kidneys of females given all-lead shot were significantly higher than in males. In both dosed groups, lead levels in wingbones of females were about 10 times those in males, and were significantly correlated with the number of eggs laid after dosage. Lead levels in contents and shells of eggs laid by hens dosed with all-lead shot were about twice those in eggs laid by hens dosed with lead-iron shot. Eggshells were found to best reflect levels of lead in the blood. Our results indicate that mallards maintained on a balanced diet and dosed with one lead shot may not accumulate extremely high lead levels in the liver and kidney. However, extremely high lead deposition may result in the bone of laying hens after ingesting sublethal amounts of lead shot as a result of mobilization of calcium from the bone during eggshell formation.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS2013

Brain cholinesterase activities of birds from forests sprayed with trichlorfon (Dylox) and carbaryl (Sevin-4-oil)

Brain cholinesterase activities were determined in birds from forests sprayed with Dylox 2 at 1.13 kg/hectare (1 1b/acre — active ingredient [a.i.]) or Sevin-4-oil 2 at 1.13 kg/hectare (1 1b/acre — a.i.) for up to 5 days postspray. Of ten bird species evaluated from the Dylox spray area, four species represented by six individuals had values which were depressed more than 2 standard deviations below the mean. Three of these activities (two species) were about 20% less than the mean. Of 12 species evaluated from the Sevin-4-oil spraying, three individuals representing three species had depressed values. One value was depressed greater than 20% below the mean. Half of the depressed activities were in canopy-dwelling birds collected on the day of spray.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS1976

Organochlorine residues in females and nursing young of the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)

Carcasses and brains of 18 big brown bats from Gaithersburg, Maryland, were analyzed for residues of organochlorine insecticides and PCB's. Eleven bats were adult females, and six of these had seven nursing young associated with them....Young bats resembled their parents in microgram amounts of PCB and DDE present in carcasses. However, concentrations of chemicals (expressed as ppm) were significantly higher in young. Brains of three young contained detectable residues of PCB and DDE....Younger adult females contained higher levels of PCB and DDE than did older ones. However, among the oldest females, amounts appeared to begin rising again. This pattern resembles that in free-tailed bats from Bracken Cave, Texas, but differs from the continuous linear decline seen in a Laurel, Maryland population of big brown bats, in which initial levels among younger females were higher than those in the Gaithersburg population....DDE was transferred from female to young more readily than was PCB by nursing. Five of 51 neonate big brown bats from the Laurel population were thought to have been born dead because of residues of PCB that were transferred across the placenta. Present data show that even greater amounts of PCB may be transferred to young by lactation and nursing.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS2013

Residues in common flicker and mountain bluebird eggs one year after a DDT application

Common flicker ( Colaptes auratus ) and mountain bluebird ( Sialia currucoides ) eggs were examined 1 year after DDT application and showed a marked difference. Residue levels in mountain bluebird eggs were approximately 10 times higher than in common flicker eggs (5.29 to 0.58 ppm wet weight). These differences can be explained by disparate dietary habits. The mean level in American kestrel ( Falco sparverius) eggs collected in the spray area at the same time was 6.42 ppm wet weight.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS1991

Acute toxicities to larval rainbow trout of representative compounds detected in Great Lakes fish

In recent years the National Fisheries Research Center-Great Lakes has ranked the potential hazard to fish and invertebrates of various chemical compounds detected in two Great Lakes fishes-- lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush , and walleye, Stizostedion vitreum vitreum (Hesselberg and Seelye 1982). This hazard assessment has included the identification of the potential sources of the compounds, determination of the occurrence and abundance of the compounds in Great Lakes fish, and the determination of acute toxicities of representative compounds of 19 chemical classes (Passino and Smith 1987a). In further studies Smith et al. (1988) focused on 6 of the 19 classes of compounds using the zooplankter Daphnia pulex as the test organism. They ranked the six classes as follows (in decreasing order of toxicity): polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkyl halides, nitrogen-containing compounds, cyclic alkanes, heterocyclic nitrogen compounds, and silicon-containing compounds.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS1989

Pesticide contamination of endangered gray bats and their food base in Boone County, Missouri, 1982

Gray bat guano from Devil's Icebox and Hunters Caves contained dieldrin at levels previously associated with gray bat mortality. Two of four gray bats found dead in Holton Cave had lethal brain concentrations of dieldrin. Twenty-five of 28 (86%) insect samples from bat foraging areas contained measurable dieldrin, heptachlor epoxide or both. Beetle samples were most heavily contaminated containing up to 2.2 ppm and 1.1 ppm heptachlor epoxide. The addition of Holton Cave brings to five the number of Missouri caves where gray bats have died of food chain pesticide poisoning.

Missouri↗
USGS1990

Pesticide and PCB residues for loggerhead shrikes in the Shenandoah Valley

The decline in loggerhead shrike ( Lanius ludovicianus ) populations is widespread and coincides with the use of organochlorines that began in the late 1940's and increased until the 1970's (Morrison 1981; Robbins et al. 1986; Tate 1986). An inhabitant of farmland areas, loggerhead shrikes prey on invertebrates and small vertebrates (Bent 1950), and thus risk exposure to pesticides and other agricultural chemicals. The role of contaminants in the decline of loggerhead shrikes has only been partially assessed (Busbee 1977; Anderson and Duzan 1978; Morrison 1979; Rudd et al. 1981). Studies of the nesting and winter ecology of loggerhead shrikes (Luukkonen 1987; Blumton 1989) during 1985-88 in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia provided the opportunity to collect eggs and carcasses for contaminant residue analysis. In this paper we provide pesticide and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) residue data for eggs and carcasses collected.

Shenandoah Valley↗
USGS1982

Seasonal brain acetylcholinesterase activity in three species of shorebirds overwintering in Texas

There was no seasonal variation in average brain AChE activity for the 3 species of wild birds collected between October and February. Further work needs to be done, however, covering an even broader time frame which includes the reproductive cycle. It appears that some birds feeding at the mouth of an agricultural drain, at some distance from the nearest pesticide applications, were affected by AChE inhibitors.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗