Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 3 complete abstracts (602 words), 9 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Environmental Surveillance; Surveillance, Environmental; Monitoring, Environmental.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Environmental Exposure; Public Health Practice
- Narrower topics
- Biological Monitoring; Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; Environmental Biomarkers; Environmental Indicators; Water Quality; Radiation Monitoring
- See also
- Ecological Parameter Monitoring
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 207,512 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Environmental Monitoring” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 74,304 of them (35.8%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is 2010-2019 with 82,765 records.
Reviews account for 12,359 records (6.0%) and meta-analyses for 548. Randomized controlled trials number 208 (0.1%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 8,515 |
| 2000-2009 | 41,928 |
| 2010-2019 | 82,765 |
| 2020 onward | 74,304 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 12,359 | 6.0% |
| Meta-analyses | 548 | 0.3% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 208 | 0.1% |
Method: PubMed query "Environmental Monitoring"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in public health and nutrition
Population and nutrition studies mostly observe what people eat, breathe or are exposed to and then look for links with health, which shows association and not proof of cause. Self-reported diet is imprecise, people who eat or live differently also differ in other ways, and effects measured across a population may not apply to one person. Check the study design, how exposure was measured, what else was accounted for and the size of the effect, not only whether it was statistically significant.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characterizing particle size in agricultural runoff to inform stormwater basin design | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 1 | cc by PMID 42768436 · DOI · PMC13594369 |
| Groundwater delivery of neonicotinoids to streams | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 1 | cc by PMID 42605029 · DOI · PMC13478542 |
| Optimizing a long-term monitoring strategy to track emerging cyanobacterial blooms in a Great Lakes estuary | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 1 | cc by PMID 42565251 · DOI · PMC13485230 |
Characterizing particle size in agricultural runoff to inform stormwater basin design [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Upper US Midwest sediment-basin design commonly relies on parent-soil texture classes and texture-based settling-velocity defaults (Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Practice Standard Code 350), yet conservation-managed fields can export fine particles that bypass gravity settling.
- Closing excerpt
- Fine-particle dominance limits gravity settling in sedimentation basins, so substantial reductions in suspended sediment and turbidity for agricultural runoff typically require coagulation/flocculation in addition to hydraulic detention.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (136 words)
Upper US Midwest sediment-basin design commonly relies on parent-soil texture classes and texture-based settling-velocity defaults (Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Practice Standard Code 350), yet conservation-managed fields can export fine particles that bypass gravity settling. Runoff from 13 edge-of-field watersheds in Wisconsin and Indiana showed systematic divergence between particle size distribution representations: volume-weighted (mass-based) D50 ≈ 30 µm (coarser classification) versus number-weighted (count-based) D50 ≈ 3.5 µm (clay-rich suspension). A mixed-effects framework identified seasonality and water chemistry as stronger predictors than agronomy, including winter coarsening (β ≈ +4.35, p 50 (p 50 (p = 0.014), supporting phosphorus coupling to fine mineral particles and nitrogen association with larger organic aggregates. Fine-particle dominance limits gravity settling in sedimentation basins, so substantial reductions in suspended sediment and turbidity for agricultural runoff typically require coagulation/flocculation in addition to hydraulic detention.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42768436 · DOI · PMC13594369
Groundwater delivery of neonicotinoids to streams [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Neonicotinoids are mobile and persistent insecticides whose presence in streams poses a threat to stream invertebrates.
- Closing excerpt
- Given that only approximately one-third to two-thirds of the water entering the streams was young enough to contain these neonicotinoids, if neonicotinoid loss to groundwater stays the same and they persist in the aquifer, their concentrations will continue to increase as those streams come to steady-state with applied neonicotinoids.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (235 words)
Neonicotinoids are mobile and persistent insecticides whose presence in streams poses a threat to stream invertebrates. This study sought to understand how stream baseflow concentrations of three common neonicotinoids relate to their delivery in groundwater from agricultural land. In a study area with large areas of irrigated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and vegetable crops, some grain and dairy agriculture, and small areas of suburban development, neonicotinoid concentrations in streams exceeded the aquatic life benchmarks for imidacloprid and clothianidin at the sites with higher percentages of potato and vegetable crops in their groundwater contributing area. The stream concentrations are similar to field-edge groundwater concentrations after adjusting for the density of agricultural land cover within a groundwater travel-time corresponding to their usage period and assuming the neonicotinoids persist or degrade slowly in the aquifer. If neonicotinoids do not degrade in the aquifer, the stream concentrations can be explained by a mean loss to groundwater from the land in potato and vegetable agriculture of 0.16 (range 0.002-0.3) g ha-1 year-1 for imidacloprid, 1.6 (range 0.02-4.1) g ha-1 year-1 for thiamethoxam, and 0.5 (range 0.05-1.0) g ha-1 year-1 for clothianidin. Given that only approximately one-third to two-thirds of the water entering the streams was young enough to contain these neonicotinoids, if neonicotinoid loss to groundwater stays the same and they persist in the aquifer, their concentrations will continue to increase as those streams come to steady-state with applied neonicotinoids.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42605029 · DOI · PMC13478542
Optimizing a long-term monitoring strategy to track emerging cyanobacterial blooms in a Great Lakes estuary [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs) are increasingly frequent and severe globally.
- Closing excerpt
- Our findings inform an optimized monitoring program for the SLRE and demonstrate a feasible monitoring optimization approach that could be developed and applied elsewhere to track risks from cHABs and other stressors.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (231 words)
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs) are increasingly frequent and severe globally. Recently, the St. Louis River Estuary (SLRE) has experienced numerous cHABs, but the locations, timing, and environmental conditions associated with them are unknown. We first investigated environmental predictors of cyanobacteria through a multifaceted approach, highlighting key relationships to understand past cHABs, and then performed a detailed spatiotemporal redundancy analysis of sampling data to optimize site selection and sampling frequency for future monitoring. We employed an oversampling approach over 2 years at eight spatially heterogeneous stations. Random forest analysis paired with constrained ordination indicated that warm, late-summer temperatures were an important predictor of cyanobacterial abundance (biovolume), and drought-mediated stoichiometric nitrogen limitation may have facilitated dominance by diazotrophic cyanobacteria in 2023. Temporal redundancy analysis revealed no ideal sampling frequency, but late summer, weekly sampling, and as-needed bloom response collections were deemed critical for tracking cHABs. A 30- to 40-day lag effect between water temperature and cyanobacterial abundance suggested temperature as an early warning predictor of summer bloom intensity. Water quality was more spatially heterogeneous than phytoplankton communities, informing future monitoring site selection designed to comprehensively capture water quality variability and minimize phytoplankton community redundancy while prioritizing sites with past blooms. Our findings inform an optimized monitoring program for the SLRE and demonstrate a feasible monitoring optimization approach that could be developed and applied elsewhere to track risks from cHABs and other stressors.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42565251 · DOI · PMC13485230
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the environment and in people: a meta-analysis of concentrations [4]
- Research article Revisiting the affect regulation model of binge eating: a meta-analysis of studies using ecological momentary assessment [5]
- Research article Environmental toxic metal contaminants and risk of cardiovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis [6]
- Research article Agricultural insecticides threaten surface waters at the global scale [7]
- Research article Residential green spaces and mortality: A systematic review [8]
- Research article Air pollution exposure and lung function in children: the ESCAPE project [9]
References
- Holly MA, Votis AJ, Anderson-Giles M, Gunn KM. Characterizing particle size in agricultural runoff to inform stormwater basin design. . 2026. PMID 42768436 · DOI · PMC13594369
- DeVita WM, McGinley PM. Groundwater delivery of neonicotinoids to streams. . 2026. PMID 42605029 · DOI · PMC13478542
- Birschbach PA, Reavie ED, Filstrup CT, Nicklay H. Optimizing a long-term monitoring strategy to track emerging cyanobacterial blooms in a Great Lakes estuary. . 2026. PMID 42565251 · DOI · PMC13485230
- Hites RA. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the environment and in people: a meta-analysis of concentrations. Environ Sci Technol. 2004. PMID 14998004 · DOI
- Haedt-Matt AA, Keel PK. Revisiting the affect regulation model of binge eating: a meta-analysis of studies using ecological momentary assessment. Psychol Bull. 2011. PMID 21574678 · DOI · PMC3100657
- Chowdhury R, Ramond A, O'Keeffe LM, Shahzad S, Kunutsor SK, Muka T, et al.. Environmental toxic metal contaminants and risk of cardiovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2018. PMID 30158148 · DOI · PMC6113772
- Stehle S, Schulz R. Agricultural insecticides threaten surface waters at the global scale. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015. PMID 25870271 · DOI · PMC4426442
- Gascon M, Triguero-Mas M, Martínez D, Dadvand P, Rojas-Rueda D, Plasència A, et al.. Residential green spaces and mortality: A systematic review. Environ Int. 2016. PMID 26540085 · DOI
- Gehring U, Gruzieva O, Agius RM, Beelen R, Custovic A, Cyrys J, et al.. Air pollution exposure and lung function in children: the ESCAPE project. Environ Health Perspect. 2013. PMID 24076757 · DOI · PMC3855518
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-11-04; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-11-04.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.