IN THIS ISSUE... 

EDITORIAL COLUMN 

The editor of this informative GeoHealth newsletter, shares new information about recent

individual and institutional recognitions regarding the pioneering field of Medical Geology. .................................................................................................................................................................page 2

SPOTLIGHT: USGS

Feature Article: 

• Coccidioidomycosis: Mitigating the Risk by Mark W. Bultman, Frederick 

S. Fisher, and Mark E. Gettings ..................................................................pages 2-6

 U.S. Geological Survey News: 

• Formation of New USGS Human Health Coordination Committee ....page 7

• First Annual Sustainable Beaches Summit...............................................pages 7-8

GEOHEALTH IN THE MEDIA 

• Dust storms on the rise globally – by Gaia Vince................................. page 8

• Magnets pull cancer drugs to tumors - by Anna Gosline.................. page 8

• Amphibians’ life stages influence contaminant transfer from aquatic 

to terrestrial environments by – brightsurf.com...................................page 9

• Report Cites Health Risks of Farm-Raised Salmon – by Kenneth R.

Weiss....................................................................................................................... page 9

• High mercury risk in fish raises alarm – by Lisa Stiffler...................page 9

• Air Pollution Retards Teen Lung Growth Study – Gene Emery....page 9

• WHO warns of global outbreak of bird flu - by Zhang Feng...........page 9

• China's changing farms damaging soil and water-by Fred Pearce ................................................................................................................................. page 10

• Adipose Tissue Levels of Organochlorine Pesticides and 

Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Risk of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma – 

by- Penelope J.E. Quintana, Ralph J. Delfino, Susan Korrick, Argyrios Ziogas, 

Frederick W. Kutz,Ellen L. Jones, Francine Laden, and Eric Garshick........page 10

• Senators Urge Probe of EPA on Lead in Water-by Carol D Leonnig ...................................................................................................................................page 10

IN THE NEXT ISSUE 

Be aware of hot Medical Geology topics before they are even printed! .................................................................................................................................................page 10

ASK THE DOCTOR 

Find the answers to intriguing Medical Geology questions.................pages 10-11

1 
EDITORIAL COLUMN By Joe Bunnell 

Recently, on Tuesday, September 28, 

2004, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake shook central 

California. While there were no casualties and 

relatively minor damage reported, a major quake 

in the same area killed two people last 

December. Parkfield (pop. 37) has been central 

to the war on earthquakes ever since researchers 

noted that, since 1857, a magnitude 6.0 

earthquake has occurred there on average every 

22 years. About 7 miles north of the Parkfield 

Earthquake, and a mere 1500 feet from the San 

Andreas fault, a borehole that will ultimately

intersect the San Andreas fault at depth is being

drilled by the National Science Foundation's 

$200 million EarthScope Program, in partnership

with USGS. About a week before the temblor 

occurred, drilling operations ended at a depth of 

8500 feet. 

Three years earlier to the day of the 

Parkfield Earthquake, an archeolgical site in 

Dinosaur National Park, Utah, was reopened to

the public after a coccidioidomycosis (aka valley 

fever) outbreak afflicted ten people, including

two Department of the Interior (NPS) 

employees. The site was closed for over 50 days

as a result. In all, 10 people were hospitalized

with diffuse pulmonary infiltrates on chest 

radiographs; eight of them were hospitalized 

with pneumonia of unknown etiology – 

subsequently determined to be, in fact, valley 

fever. While two-thirds of the people infected

with the causative agent generally remain

asymptomatic, the disease can be deadly. 

What is the connection between 

earthquakes and a serious fungal infection?

Valley fever results from an infection caused by

inhaling specific airborne pathogenic fungi,

Coccidioides immitis. The fungi grow in soil, 

and when earthquakes trigger landslides, the 

spores can be carried by the wind over large

distances. Almost 200 people became acutely ill 

with valley fever after the 1994 Northridge

earthquake in southern California. Learn much 

more about valley fever in this issue’s feature 

article! 

By the way, you may have been wondering what 

happened to the GeoHealth News, as it has been 

about a year since our last “quarterly” issue. We

won’t bore you with all the details; suffice it to

say that we owe a big THANK YOU to the

Eastern Region Management for making the

continued production of this newsletter possible. 

Please join me, too, in welcoming our new 

Editorial Assistant, Ms. Socheata Sam. As 

always, we welcome your comments, critiques,

letters, and suggestions for stories. 

SPOTLIGHT: USGS 

FEATURE ARTICLE 

Coccidioidomycosis: Mitigating the Risk 

 

by Mark W. Bultman, Frederick S. Fisher, 

and Mark E. Gettings; Western Mineral 

Resources, Tuscan Arizona 

Introduction 

In the upper 20 cm of some desert soils in the

southwestern U.S., northern Mexico, and parts of

Central and South America lives a dimorphic 

fungus that is the only eukaryote regulated under 

the U.S. Anti-terrorism and Effective Death

Penalty Act. This fungus is Coccidioides and it is 

the etiological agent of coccidioidomycosis, also 

called valley fever. As it grows in the soil in its 

saprophytic phase, it is characterized by

branching segmented hyphae that form a 

network of mycelium. As the fungus matures 

arthroconidia (spores), 2 to 5 microns in size, are

formed as barrel shaped segments of the hypha 

(figure 1). The arthroconidia can be easily

separated from the hypha by soil disturbance

(natural or anthropogenic) and consequently

dispersed by the wind. If an appropriate host

inhales airborne arthroconidia, primary infection 

may occur and the parasitic phase of the 

Coccidioides lifecycle is initiated. Appropriate 

hosts include humans and other vertebrates. The 

life cycle of Coccidioides concludes with the 

death and subsequent decay of the infected host, 

returning the fungus to its saprophytic form in

the soil. 

2 
Figure 1. Coccidioides sp. hyphae showing 

initial formation of arthroconidia

Character of coccidioidomycosis in humans 

Coccidioidomycosis begins with the inhaled 

arthroconidia growing into spherules in the 

host’s lung tissue. The spherules mature, rupture, 

and release up to thousands of endospores. Each 

endospore can grow into a mature spherule and

the infection propagates by this method. About

100,000 people are infected annually in the 

United States (Valley Fever Center for 

Excellence, 2002). Sixty to seventy percent of

infected individuals will be asymptomatic and 

will develop long-lasting immunity. The 

remainder display symptoms that range from an

influenza-like illness to over-whelming

pneumonia starting 7-28 days after exposure.

Most recover completely and develop longlasting immunity. In a small number of cases (<1 

percent), a progressive pneumonia can persist for 

months to years (Ampel, 2000). In about 0.5

percent of cases, the disease may disseminate

into the skin, bones, soft tissue, or meninges 

(figure 2) and may require lifelong anti-fungal

therapy. It can also disfigure, disable, or kill the 

infected individual.

Figure 2. Cutaneous coccidioidomycosis 

Source: Mycology online, University of 

Adelaide, Australia. 

http://www.mycology.adelaide.edu.au/

The risk of developing active pulmonary

coccidioidomycosis varies by age, gender, and, 

possibly, the level of exposure to the fungus. 

Figure 3 displays the incidence rate for 

coccidioidomycosis by age in Arizona from 1990

through 1995. Figure 3 clearly shows that elderly 

individuals are more susceptible to acquiring

active coccidioidomycosis (CDC, 1996). Males 

tend to get coccidioidomycosis at a higher rate

than females and diabetics tend to get a more 

serious form of pulmonary coccidioidomycosis 

than non-diabetics (Ampel, 2000). Also, in cases 

where there is a large exposure to inhaled

arthroconidia, such as workers at an 

archeological dig, almost everyone exposed

comes down with active pulmonary

coccidioidomycosis (CDC, 2001). The risk of

developing disseminated coccidioidomycosis

varies by ethnicity and other factors. Blacks,

Filipinos, Native Americans, males, and 

pregnant women in the second and third 

trimester are at an elevated risk for disseminated 

infection (Ampel, 2000). Those at the greatest 

risk from coccidioidomycosis (pulmonary and 

disseminated) are individuals with an underlying 

immunosuppressive condition (HIV/AIDS,

lupus, organ transplants, chemotherapy, etc). In

fact, disseminated coccidioidomycosis is

commonly fatal in HIV patients. HIV infected

patients with the non-meningitis form of

disseminated coccidioidomycosis had a fatality 

rate of 68 percent and a median survival of 54

days (Aberg, 2003). Those with coccidioidal

3 
meningitis had a 33% fatality rate and a median

survival of 6 months (Aberg, 2003).

Figure 3. Mean annual incidence rate per 

100,000 population of coccidioidomycosis by 

age group – Arizona, 1990-1995 (source: CDC 

1996)

Coccidioidomycosis is a dangerous and

expensive disease. Pappagianis (1980) estimated 

that the overall annual cost to the nation was one

million person-days of labor. A review by the 

United States Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia (Goodman, ed., 

1994) of the medical records in Kern County, 

California showed that coccidioidomycosis 

accounted for approximately $66 million in

direct costs of hospitalization and outpatient care 

during the period 1991-1993. 

Based on demographic trends in the United

States an increasing number of previously unexposed high-risk individuals (mostly elderly) 

are moving into endemic areas. In addition, 

recent changes in climate may favor infection. 

These factors have combined to create an 

increasing number of cases of 

coccidioidomycosis in the U.S. In 2001, the 

Arizona Department of Health Services reported

an incidence of 43 cases per 100,000 population,

a 186 percent increase in the incidence rate since 

1998 (CDC, 2003). 

Geology and ecology of Coccidioides sp.

The coccidioidomycosis endemic area is shown 

in figure 4. This area represents the geographical 

extent of environmental conditions favorable for 

Coccidioides to complete its life cycle in the soil. 

Coccidioidomycosis was entirely attributed to

Coccidioides immitis until recently. Work by 

Fisher and others (2002) has provided evidence 

of two species of Coccidioides; Coccidioides

immitis and Coccidioides posadasii. 

Coccidioides immitis is found in the central

valley of California, southern California, and 

Mexico. Coccidioides posadasii is found in the 

parts of the endemic area outside the central 

valley of California (Fisher and others, 2002).

Figure 4. Coccidioidomycosis endemic area

Ongoing project work at the USGS Mineral

Resource Program’s Southwest Field Office in 

Tucson, Arizona is aimed at 1) defining the 

geological/ecological habitat of Coccidioides sp.; 

2) modeling that habitat with spatial and

temporal models in order to map soils favorable 

for hosting Coccidioides sp. and delineating 

conditions where arthroconidia may be released

into the atmosphere; and 3) with USGS Earth

Surface Dynamics Program, to monitor and 

model dust emissions. The goal is to use this

information to help mitigate coccidioidomycosis 

by predicting possible epidemics, sighting public 

facilities in areas where the fungus is not likely 

to be found, allowing biological and chemical 

control methods to be effectively utilized, and by

allowing dust abatement methods to be used with

greater effectiveness.

Laboratory and site-specific field studies have

shown that many physical, chemical, climatic, 

and biological factors influence the growth of

Coccidioides in the soil and the consequent 

development and deployment of arthroconidia. 

4 
With some exceptions endemic areas are 

generally arid to semiarid with low to moderate 

rainfall, mild winters, and long hot seasons. 

Mean annual soil temperatures range from 150

 C 

to over 220 C. The presence of soils with textures 

that provide adequate pore space in the upper (20 

cm) parts of the soil profile, for moisture, 

oxygen, and growing room is very important. 

Small amounts of clay foster water holding 

capacity, but large amounts of clay may be 

detrimental for Coccidioides growth. The 

presence of some organic material is needed for 

carbon and nitrogen but in most known 

occurrences it is generally sparse, less than 2%. 

Large amounts of organic compounds may be 

detrimental because they would foster the growth 

of bacteria and other fungal species that would 

compete with Coccidioides. Many

Coccidioidesgrowth sites have soils with

elevated salinity, which may act an inhibitor of 

microbial competitors (Egeberg and others, 

1964). 

Detection of Coccidioides in the environment is

difficult. Traditionally mice are inoculated with

isolates from suspect soil. After a predetermined time period the mice are sacrificed

and their organs examined for evidence of 

infection as seen by the formation of the unique

spherule form of Coccidioides. Recently, 

laboratories have turned to DNA analysis in an

attempt to identify the cultured fungus. While 

there have been some successes using DNA, 

there is no standardized procedure and results so 

far are unreliable. Scientist collaborating with

the USGS at the University of Arizona and the 

University of California Davis are working on 

the development and improvement of these new 

techniques. Presently, testing soil for the 

presence of Coccidioides is time consuming and

difficult, thus there are few locations where it has

been identified in the soil.

Coccidioides sp. habitat modeling 

Habitat modeling of the saprophytic phase of 

Coccidioides is difficult, because of the limited

number of places where it is known to exist in

soil. This prevents the establishment of statistical 

relationships between growth sites and their 

physical, chemical, and biological habitat

parameters. Therefore habitat modeling is

accomplished using analysis of the physical 

properties of known Coccidioides sites within a 

spatial fuzzy system. A spatial fuzzy system is a 

system of spatial variables where some or all of 

the spatial variables are described with fuzzy 

sets. The fuzzy system is capable of translating 

structured knowledge into a flexible numerical 

framework and processing it with a series of ifthen rules. 

Fuzzy systems can describe non-linear numerical 

processes with linguistic common sense terms 

and can handle differing precision and accuracy 

in the data. They produce models that can be

repeated and updated easily. 

A fuzzy system analysis was applied in Organ 

Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. The 

resulting product is a map (Figure 5) depicting 

the favorableness of areas for hosting 

Coccidioides in soils based on a scale of 0 to 1, 

which we define as its fuzzy habitat suitability 

index. An important property of this kind of

analysis is that “what if” scenarios can be used to 

predict changes in habitat with changing climate. 

Figure 5. The fuzzy habitat suitability index of

Coccidioides measured as the favorableness of 

soils for hosting Coccidioides, Organ Pipe

Cactus National Monument, Arizona 

Complex systems modeling of the life cycle of 

Coccidioides

Like all environmental systems, the life cycle of 

Coccidioides is determined by a complex set of

interactions between the organism and its 

surroundings. One concept that we are now 

testing is the possibility that saprophytic 

Coccidioides can reestablish itself in soil after 

arthroconidia have been blown to a new location 

by an extreme wind event. Fisher and others 

(2001) have shown that there is spatial genetic 

differentiation in Coccidiodes and 

geographically separate genetic clades are 

5 
recognized in central California, southern

California, Arizona, Mexico, Texas, and South 

America. This genetic differentiation argues 

against the ability of Coccidioides arthroconidia 

to reestablish themselves in soils, at least over 

long distances. But, spread of the fungus by wind

may still be an important local process. In an 

attempt to model the spread and survival of the 

fungus Coccidioides in soil via wind-borne 

arthroconida transport, a complex systems model

has been developed using public domain agentbased modeling software. The hypothetical

model posits that for a successful new site to

become established, four factors must be 

simultaneously satisfied. 1) There must be 

transport of arthroconidia from a source site to

sites with favorable soil (physical, chemical, and 

biological properties). 2) There must be 

sufficient moisture for fungal growth. 3) Soil

temperatures at the surface and at depth must be 

favorable for growth. Finally, 4) the temperature 

and moisture must remain in favorable ranges for

a long enough time interval for the fungus to

grow down to depths at which arthroconidia will 

survive subsequent heat, aridity, and ultraviolet 

radiation of the hot, dry season typical of the

Southwest U.S. climate. 

Numerous model runs have shown that the 

probability of new sites depends on the four 

factors in a Bayesian way. These results indicate 

that the complexity introduced in the model from

site favorableness, temperature, moisture, and 

duration of favorable temperature and moisture

conditions is adequate to explain distributions of 

real sites described in the literature and that wind

transport at a local scale may be possible. We are 

now working on integrating more physical 

habitat factors as well as soil favorableness 

information into the complex systems model. 

References 

Aberg, J.A., 2003, Coccidioidomycosis and HIV, 

HIV InSite Knowledge Base, 

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite.jsp?doc=kb-05-

02-04, University of California San Francisco, 

San Francisco, California. 

Ampel, N.M., 2000, Coccidioidomycosis, in

Fungal Diseases of the Lung, Third edition, 

Sarosi, G.A. and Davies, S.F. editors, Lippincott

Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia. 

CDC, 2003, Increase in Coccidioidomycosis – 

Arizona, 1998-2001, in MMWR Series on public

health and Aging, Morbidity and Mortality 

Weekly Report, Vol. 52, No. 6, Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, 

Georgia. 

CDC, 2001, Coccidioidomycosis in Workers at

an Archeologic Site ---Dinosaur National 

Monument, Utah, June--July 2001, Morbidity 

and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 50, No. 45, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

Atlanta, Georgia. 

CDC, 1996, Coccidioidomycosis -- Arizona,

1990-1995, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly

Report, Vol. 45, No. 49, Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. 

Egeberg, R. O., Elconin, A. E., and Egeberg, M. 

C., 1964, Effect of salinity and temperature on

Coccidioides immitis and three antagonistic soil 

saprophytes: Journal of Bacteriology, v. 88, n. 2,

p. 473 - 476. 

Fisher, M.C., Koenig, G.L., White, T.J., Taylor, 

J.W., 2002, Molecular and phenotypic 

description of Coccidioides posadasii sp. nov.,

previously recognized as the non-California 

population of Coccidioides immitis, in

Mycologia, 94(1), pp. 73–84, The Mycological 

Society of America, Lawrence, Kansas. 

Fisher, M.C., Koenig, G.L., White, T.J., SanBlas, G., Negroni, R., Gutierez Alvarez, I., 

Wanke, B., and Taylor, J.W., Biogeographic 

range expansion into South America by

Coccidioidesimmitis mirrors New World patterns 

of human migration, proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences of the United States of 

America, Vol. 98, No. 8, National Academy of

Sciences, Washington, D.C.

Goodman, R.A., editor, 1994. Emerging

Infectious Diseases, Update: 

Coccidioidomycosis - California, 1991-1993: 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, v. 43, 

n. 23, p. 421-423. 

Pappagianis, Demosthenes, 1980, Epidemiology

of coccidioidomycosis: in Stevens, D. A., editor, 

Coccidioidomycosis, Plenum Medical Book

Company, New York, p. 63 - 85. 

Valley Fever Center for Excellence, accessed 

October 2003, http://vfce.arl.arizona.edu, 

Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, 

Tucson, Arizona. 

6 
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NEWS

Formation of new USGS Human 

Health Coordination Committee

Charles G. Groat (signed) Chip Groat 

Director, USGS

I am pleased to announce that Herb Buxton has 

agreed to chair a USGS Human Health 

Coordination Committee. This committee,

comprising program coordinators who currently

support Human Health research, will work to

increase coordination with human health 

agencies and coordination among USGS human 

health related activities. Some of the 

committee’s first tasks will be to develop longterm strategies to identify focused research areas

for the USGS, to strengthen our partnerships

with human health agencies, and to identify 

opportunities for additional funding and growth. 

As chair of the Human Health Coordination 

Committee, Herb’s first task will be to work with

the Associate Directors to assemble the group. 

He will also serve as the USGS point of contact 

for health agencies and facilitate interdisciplinary 

response to their needs. Currently, Herb 

manages the Toxic Substances Hydrology

Program and he will continue in that role 

concurrently. 

Human health issues are a high priority for the 

American people, and, as a Federal agency, the 

USGS can provide critical science information in

this area. However, many of our capabilities are 

underutilized, particularly in the areas of wildlife 

health-human health interactions and the use of 

our environmental databases (water quality, rock

and soil geochemistry, land cover, etc). To

maximize our impact, we must partner with the 

health sciences and medical fields to understand 

their information needs and to educate them 

about the value USGS can add. 

As the Toxics Program Coordinator, Herb has 

worked closely with environmental and human 

health agencies on topics such as mercury 

cycling in aquatic ecosystems, contamination 

from hardrock mining, MTBE, pesticides and

their degradation products, and pharmaceutically 

and hormonally active contaminants. He 

received his B.S. in Geology from Rensselaer 

Polytechnic Institute, and his M.S. in Geology 

from the State University of New York. After

working as a research associate at the University 

of South Carolina’s Hydrogeology Program, he

has had a 25-year career with the USGS as a

scientist and manager. 

Please join me in welcoming Herb to this new 

leadership role. 

MEETINGS 

First Annual Sustainable Beaches 

Summit 

By Christina Kellogg; Coastal and Marine 

Geology

The Sustainable Beaches Summit is a 

groundbreaking effort to bring together a diverse

cross-section of professionals and coastal 

educators from federal agencies, state and local 

governments, non-governmental organizations, 

academia, and industry. The Summit convened 

March 29-31, 2004, in Walton County, Florida, 

at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. 

The first day of the Summit, Monday, March 29, 

features several workshops relating to various

aspects of beach management. The workshops 

will allow participants to gain hands-on training

in the latest beach management techniques and

include field trips to the beautiful beaches of 

Walton County. The meeting convenes on

Tuesday, March 30 with a morning plenary

session, and will conclude on Wednesday, March 

31. Tuesday and Wednesday will include 

sessions focusing on five major concurrent tracks

relating to beach management: water, sediment, 

monitoring & mapping, tourism, and 

education/outreach. In addition to the sessions, 

all the major sponsors (listed below) will have

booths with beach-related information available 

in the lobby. 

The USGS Florida Integrated Science Center 

(FISC), Center for Coastal and Watershed

Studies, located in St. Petersburg, FL, is 

sponsoring the monitoring and mapping track. 

This track, targeted to scientists and public 

health officials, will showcase USGS beach

research. The dual nature of the track allows for 

the inclusion of both microbiological work being 

done with beach sediments, as well as some of

7 
the regional studies of large-scale coastal change 

being done with a variety of new techniques.

The Center for Sea Change is sponsoring the 

tourism and policy track, with a focus on the 

economics and planning of sustainable tourism. 

This track is expected to appeal to planners, 

tourism professionals, developers, and policy

staff. 

The US Army Corps of Engineers is sponsoring 

the sand and sediment track, geared toward 

engineers and consultants. This track will 

include topics such as dredging, maintaining 

beach fill, and their new focus on regional 

sediment management. 

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) is sponsoring the 

education, outreach and literacy track. The 

intended audience is educators, scientists, and

policy staff. The track will incorporate sessions

on K-12 educational programs, aquariums, 

getting the community involved in programs, 

and beach protection. 

The Clean Beaches Council, with input from the 

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

will be compiling the final track on water, 

including recreational water quality, watershed

management, and impacts of wastewater on 

beaches. 

Speakers have already been chosen for these

tracks, and a preliminary agenda is available on

the Sustainable Beaches Summit webpage. 

Interested parties are invited to register for the 

Summit on the website from now until February 

14th. The Summit will provide an excellent

venue for network building and creating synergy

among beach professionals of all backgrounds. 

Links 

Sustainable Beaches Summit 

http://www.cleanbeaches.org/sustainable/default.

cfm

Clean Beaches Council 

http://www.cleanbeaches.org/

FISC-Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies 

http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/ 

_______________________________________________________ 

GEOHEALTH IN THE MEDIA 

 

Dust storms on the rise globally 

September 4, 2004 

Dust storms are increasing globally with 

far-reaching consequences for the environment

and human health, scientists are warning. Up to

three billion tons of dust is blown around the 

world annually, says Andrew Goudie at the 

University of Oxford, UK. Dust storms

originating in Saharan Africa have increased tenfold over the past 50 years, threatening human 

health and coral reefs thousands of miles away, 

and contributing to climate change, he warns.

Click here to view the complete article

Magnets pull cancer drugs to tumors 

September 4, 2004 

Tiny particles of iron may help doctors

deliver targeted cancer drugs using the pull of a 

magnet, says a UK researcher. And such

treatments could potentially improve the 

effectiveness of tumor-killing drugs while 

reducing the painful side effects associated with 

8 
traditional treatments.” It’s a new way of driving 

drugs around the body. Drug trafficking, if you 

will,” says Andrew Harrison, a materials chemist 

at the University of Edinburgh, who is 

developing the technique. Click here to view the 

complete article. 

Amphibian’s life stages influence 

contaminant transfer from aquatic to 

terrestrial environments 

July 24, 2003 

Scientists at the University of Georgia's 

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory have taken

the first step toward understanding how 

variations in the life stages of amphibians may 

influence contaminant transfer from aquatic to

terrestrial environments. Using bullfrog larvae 

from a coal combustion waste-settling basin, the 

scientists investigated the effects of both 

developmental stage and the timing of

metamorphosis on the concentrations of a series 

of trace elements in bullfrog tissues. Four stages 

in all were examined as were both spring and fall 

metamorphosis. The work has just been 

published in Environmental Toxicology and 

Chemistry. Click here to view the complete 

article

Report cites health risks of FarmRaised Salmon 

January 9, 2004 

Salmon raised in ocean feedlots, the 

main source of supply for American consumers, 

contains such high levels of PCBs, dioxins and 

other toxic chemicals that people should not eat 

it more than once a month, according to an

extensive study reported today in the journal 

Science. The study, which has triggered heated 

protests from the industry, focused on

commercially raised salmon in both the Atlantic 

and Pacific. It found roughly 10 times more

PCBs, dioxins and pesticide residues in farmed

salmon than in the wild variety. 

Click here to view complete article

High mercury risk in fish raises alarm 

August 4, 2004 

Mercury is turning up in fish in

Washington state's remote lakes and reservoirs at 

levels that could be harmful to women and

children, and more than half the fish tested 

nationwide also are contaminated, according to a 

study by an environmental coalition. The results 

highlight the need to take stronger action to

reduce mercury pollution, particularly from coalburning power plants, according to Clear the Air, 

a coalition pushing for more stringent mercuryemission standards. Click here to view the 

complete article

Air Pollution Retards Teen Lung 

Growth – Study 

September 10, 2004 

 

In the first long-term study of air 

pollution’s effects on children, researchers 

reported this week that contaminated air stunts 

lung development in teenagers and the effects 

could extend well into adulthood. The findings, 

published in the New England Journal of

Medicine, show that existing pollution controls 

in many parts of the United States are 

inadequate. Click here to view the complete 

article

WHO warns of global outbreak of 

bird flu

September 14, 2004 

The World Health Organization (WHO) 

has warned of a global outbreak of avian 

influenza unless greater efforts are made to fight

the disease in countries already affected by it and 

international co-operation is strengthened. The 

WHO is currently investigating one human case 

of avian influenza which happened in Viet Nam

in August when other two cases were also

reported there, a senior WHO official said over 

the weekend. Click here to view the complete 

article
China's changing farms damaging soil 

and water 

September 18, 2004 

China's economic revolution is coming 

at a cost. While improved prosperity and 

government incentives convinced millions of

people to give up the rural life and move into

towns and cities, China's agriculture is in rapid

decline, prompting fears that the country that is 

home to one-fifth of the world's population will 

soon be unable to feed itself. Click here to view 

the complete article

Adipose Tissue Levels of 

Organochlorine Pesticides and 

Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Risk of 

Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma 

June 1, 2004 

Quintana et al. found strong

associations between the risk of non-Hodgkin's 

Lymphoma (NHL) and levels of several

organochlorine compounds measured in body 

fat, particularly heptachlor epoxide and dieldrin. 

People with the highest body burdens of 

heptachlor epoxide and dieldrin had three times 

the risk of NHL, compared to people with the 

lowest levels of these persistent pesticide 

residues in their body fat. Their results provide 

further support for the argument that 

organochlorine contaminants are responsible, at

least in part, for the changing incidence of nonHodgkin’s Lymphoma seen over the last few 

decades. Click here to view the complete article

Senators urge probe of EPA on Lead 

in Water 

October 6, 2004 

Two U.S. senators yesterday called for 

the inspector general of the Environmental 

Protection Agency to investigate whether the

agency was properly protecting the public, 

saying they were alarmed by reports that utilities 

often violate rules designed to reduce lead in

drinking water. Members of the Senate also

renewed a push for strict new laws to reduce lead 

contamination in drinking water and to require 

that the public be alerted quickly to lead risks. 

The demands followed a Washington Post report

yesterday that dozens of water utilities are 

manipulating lead test results, violating federal

law in some cases and putting customers at risk. 

Click here to view the complete article 

IN THE NEXT ISSUE... 

What is the NBII? 

The National Biological Information 

Infrastructure (NBII) <http://www.nbii.gov> is a 

broad, collaborative program to provide 

increased access to data and information on the 

nation's biological resources. The NBII links

diverse, high-quality biological databases, 

information products, and analytical tools 

maintained by NBII partners and other

contributors in government agencies, academic 

institutions, non-government organizations, and 

private industry. NBII partners and collaborators 

also work on new standards, tools, and 

technologies that make it easier to find, integrate, 

and apply biological resources information. 

Resource managers, scientists, educators, and the 

general public use the NBII to answer a wide

range of questions related to the management, 

use, or conservation of this nation's biological

resources. 

ASK THE DOCTOR... 

Q: Dear Dr. Pat Hologist, 

With so much attention in the media 

about lead poisoning, I am worried about my

family. How can I tell if my children are being 

exposed and how can I prevent it?

 ~Concerned in Washington

A: Dear Concerned, 

Lead is everywhere! It especially exists 

in household items such as paint, batteries, 

drinking water, pottery and other ceramic dishes 

that are hand glazed. If your home is older than 

20 years, lead can be apparent in the paint on the

walls as well. In the United States, deteriorated

lead-based paint in older homes and high levels

of lead-contaminated house dust are the most

common sources of lead poisoning in children. 

It is difficult to detect lead poisoning 

initially because the symptoms are subtle and 

accumulate gradually. They may go unnoticed

until levels become high and dangerous. 

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Symptoms in children are nonspecific and may 

include irritability, loss of appetite, weight loss, 

vomiting, constipation, and anemia. Although

children are at a higher risk, adults are exposed 

as well. Symptoms in adults include pain, 

numbness or tingling of the extremities, 

muscular weakness, headache, abdominal pain, 

and memory loss.

Some causes of lead contamination 

come from soil, household dust, water, and lead 

paint. The best way to prevent lead poisoning is 

to go straight to the source and remove it! 

The editors of this newsletter 

welcome: 

• Suggestions on what to include in future 

newsletters 

• Suggestions on the newsletter format

• Email addresses of USGS people who 

may be interested in receiving copies of 

the newsletter (Note: subscribers will 

receive email notification of future 

editions of the newsletter that will be

posted on a USGS website). 

• Contributions toward upcoming events

of U.S. Geological Survey News (The 

editors of this GeoHealth newsletter 

value any input through their readers. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at 

anytime and you for your replies.)

Editor- Joseph Bunnell 

Contributing Editor- James L. Coleman 

Editorial Assistant- Socheata Sam

For questions, contributions, or

suggestions regarding any part of this 

newsletter, please contact: 

Joe Bunnell: jbunnell@usgs.gov -- 703-

648-6497. 

For more information related

to the topic of GeoHealth, go to

http://energy.er.usgs.gov and select the 

"Medical Geology" logo link.

 

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