With billions of companion and agricultural animals in the United States alone, it’s clear that human and animal lives are deeply interconnected, especially when it comes to care and treatment. Veterinary care goes far beyond providing food and water; it includes a wide range of medicines whose manufacturing process, end-use runoff, and ultimate disposal can have significant environmental impacts. From hormone implants to flea and tick treatments, veterinary pharmaceuticals play a major role in our modern world. 



The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicines (CVM) is charged with ensuring the safety and effectiveness of animal drugs and food additives and determining if these products will have a significant impact on the environment. To accomplish their mission, CVM requires approval applications from sponsors to include either a claim for a categorical exclusion or an Environmental Assessment (EA). A categorical exclusion will indicate whether a proposed action falls under conditions that the agency has determined from previous information does not have a significant effect on the environment. 

The EA compiles environmental fate, exposure, and effects data related to the use and disposal of drugs or feed additives to allow CVM to determine whether significant environmental impacts may occur from the proposed action. The EA will allow CVM to either conclude Findings of No Significant Impacts (FONSI), the need for Risk Mitigation Options, or, if significant impacts remain identified, the issuance of an Environmental Impact Statement. 



Waterborne’s scientists have assisted clients around the world in preparing EAs to help ensure proper environmental stewardship of their veterinary medicines and food additives for companion animals, aquaculture, and livestock. What we’ve learned over the years is that EAs come in all shapes and sizes and are driven by a variety of veterinary medical needs. For example, our own work has led us to the following projects:

• Livestock growth hormone implants...

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Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are rapid overgrowths of algae in water systems, often forming thick, green or red scums on the surface of lakes, rivers, or coastal waters. While algae are a natural part of aquatic ecosystems, certain types—especially cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae)—can produce dangerous toxins when they multiply excessively.

Several factors contribute to the growth of HABs. Chief among them is nutrient pollution, particularly an overabundance of nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers, sewage discharge, stormwater runoff, and agricultural runoff. Warm temperatures, stagnant water, and sunlight further accelerate bloom formation. Climate change is also playing a role, with warmer waters and changing rainfall patterns that create ideal conditions for HABs to thrive in more regions and for longer periods each year. While all coastal areas in the U.S. experience HABs, different algal species have different impacts on their host environment.

Downstream impacts: One of the most damaging consequences of harmful algal blooms is hypoxia—a condition in which oxygen levels in the water drop so low that aquatic life cannot survive. When a bloom dies off, the decomposing algae consume massive amounts of oxygen during the breakdown process, creating these low-oxygen zones. 



Hypoxia can lead to fish kills, loss of biodiversity, and the collapse of entire ecosystems. Large hypoxic areas, sometimes called “dead zones,” are particularly common in places like the Gulf of Mexico/America and the Chesapeake Bay. These zones devastate fisheries, disrupt food chains, and make recovery for native species extremely difficult. Scientists predict the size of the dead zone in the Gulf of America that occurs in late summer each year by assessing the Mississippi River discharge and nutrient loading during the month of May. 

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Let’s ask the question, are your in-field study systems and equipment ready for the upcoming growing season? Spring will quickly be “flowing” into full gear so what checks can be done ahead of time. During the winter and early spring months, Waterborne initiates various off-season checks to ensure we don’t miss a beat when spring field study season arrives. These early preparations allow us to be in the field immediately and increases our efficiencies no matter what is thrown our way. From equipment and tools to surveys and telecoms, our teams are ready to hit the roads. We maintain portable and permanent (in-field) equipment systems and structures for many different types of studies.

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Scientists' nearly 10-year study results in discovery that could revolutionize how we grow food: 'Much more strategic': A nearly decade-long study on crop rotation and nitrogen loss has revealed that less tilling and a more varied array of crops can help improve nitrogen retention in soil without affecting yields.

"America's Most Endangered Rivers of 2025" highlights threats to 10 U.S. waterways. See the list: Ten waterways made up this year's most endangered rivers list, all facing a range of threats from increased flooding and inadequate disaster prevention and response, to pollution, aging infrastructure, logging, mining, border policies, and more. 

Global coral bleaching crisis spreads after hottest year, scientists say: More than four-fifths of the world's coral reef areas have been affected by devastating mass bleaching spurred by record-high ocean temperatures, turning many once-colourful reefs a ghostly pale hue

EU moves towards healthier soils in Europe: The European Parliament and EU Council have reached provisional agreement on a directive to improve monitoring and assessment of all soils within the EU.

How 50 years of climate change has changed the face of the 'Blue Marble' from space: The "Blue Marble" was the first photograph of the whole Earth and the only one ever taken by a human. Fifty years on, new images of the planet reveal visible changes to the Earth's surface.

Atrazine Ecological Monitoring Program: Two decades of generating daily or near-daily monitoring data in highly vulnerable watersheds

Publication Date: First published: 25 March 2025

This study focuses on an unprecedented monitoring program spanning two decades with daily or near-daily sampling across 13 states in the US Midwest and Southern United States, targeting watersheds in the upper 20th percentile of runoff vulnerability based on the United States Geological Survey watershed regressions for pesticides model. The Atrazine Ecological Monitoring Program (AEMP), mandated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), aims to collect extensive high-frequency atrazine exposure data alongside key environmental parameters to better understand the dynamics of atrazine fate, transport, and concentrations in these watersheds.