Decadal‐Scale Changes of Pesticides in Ground Water of the United States, 1993–2003

Pesticide data for ground water sampled across the United States between 1993–1995 and 2001–2003 by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water‐Quality Assessment Program were evaluated for trends in detection frequency and concentration. The data analysis evaluated samples collected from a total of 3...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental quality 2008-09, Vol.37 (S5), p.S-226-S-239
Main Author: Bexfield, Laura M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture - trends
Atrazine - analysis
Data warehouses
Fresh Water - analysis
Groundwater
Methods
Pesticides
Pesticides - analysis
Studies
Time Factors
United States
United States Government Agencies
Urban areas
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Water Pollution - statistics & numerical data
Water quality
Water shortages
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Summary:Pesticide data for ground water sampled across the United States between 1993–1995 and 2001–2003 by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water‐Quality Assessment Program were evaluated for trends in detection frequency and concentration. The data analysis evaluated samples collected from a total of 362 wells located in 12 local well networks characterizing shallow ground water in agricultural areas and six local well networks characterizing the drinking water resource in areas of variable land use. Each well network was sampled once during 1993–1995 and once during 2001–2003. The networks provide an overview of conditions across a wide range of hydrogeologic settings and in major agricultural areas that vary in dominant crop type and pesticide use. Of about 80 pesticide compounds analyzed, only six compounds were detected in ground water from at least 10 wells during both sampling events. These compounds were the triazine herbicides atrazine, simazine, and prometon; the acetanilide herbicide metolachlor; the urea herbicide tebuthiuron; and an atrazine degradate, deethylatrazine (DEA). Observed concentrations of these compounds generally were
ISSN:0047-2425
1537-2537
DOI:10.2134/jeq2007.0054