Pesticide presence in stream water, suspended sediment and biofilm is strongly linked to upstream catchment land use and crop type.

Pesticide pollution can present high ecological risks to aquatic ecosystems. Small streams are particularly susceptible. There is a need for reproducible and readily available methods to identify aquatic regions at risk of pesticide contamination.

Dietary exposure of stormwater contaminants in biofilm to two freshwater macroinvertebrates.

Aquatic habitats in urban environments are exposed to complex contaminant mixtures that may harm aquatic biota. The impact of contaminant transfer from contaminated biofilm through aquatic food webs is still understudied, as is the current state of knowledge on dietary exposure of urban contaminants to biota residing in stormwater ponds. Our overall objective was to characterize urban pesticide accumulation in a common aquatic food source (biofilm) in stormwater ponds and to investigate the potential toxicity of that food source by testing the responses of two freshwater macroinvertebrates to experimental exposure.

Quantifying Effects and Ingestion of Several Pristine Microplastics in Two Early Life Stages of Freshwater Mussels.

Microplastics have been found in freshwater systems, and in turn have been detected in freshwater bivalves. However, there is limited research that defines the toxicity of bicroplastics to native freshwater bivalves that have long been imperiled in North America. Our objective was to determine whether a suite of pristine microplastics has an adverse effect on two early life stages of unionid freshwater mussels.