Atrazine In North American Surface Waters

Pesticde use in agriculture and non-agriculture settings has increased dramatically over the last several decades. Concern about adverse effects on the environment and human health has spurred an enormous amount of research into their environmental behavior and fate. Pesticides in Surface Waters presents a comprehensive summary of this research.

Excerpt from Atrazine in Surface Waters: A Report of the Atrazine Task Group to the Working Group on Water Quality; April 1992 In February 1989, the President's Initiative on Water Quality proposed a vigorous national effort to protect groundwater and surface waters from contamination by agricultural chemicals and wastes, especially pesticides and nutrients. Named the lead agency in the Initiative, the usda developed a Water Quality Program to minimize the risk of contaminating groundwater and surface waters with agricultural chemicals. The Working Group on Water Quality (wowo) is an interdepartmental group established to carry out this program. It includes 12 usda agencies, along with the us. Geological Survey (usgs); the us. Environmental Protection Agency (epa); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (noaa); the us. Army Corps of Engineers; the Fish and Wildlife Service; and the Tennessee Valley Authority (tva). As another part of the President's Initiative, the usgs monitored the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries to determine the presence, levels, and variability of selected pesticides in the water. They found that 1) increased concentrations of dissolved atrazine occur in the river system for 4 to 6 weeks following corn planting; 2) the concentrations of dissolved atrazine vary by as much as one order of magnitude above background levels; 3) increased levels are associated with rainfall; 4) individual elevations are relatively short-lived; and 5) levels occasionally exceed three parts per billion (ppb). It should be noted that background levels, generally, are in the range of ppb or less; that some observed spikes have exceeded 12 ppb; and that the fate of atrazine spikes has not been studied with regard to their dilution during movement in rivers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

"Water systems in the 21st century have improved drastically compared to historical precedents due to the implementation of multi-state treatment systems. In spite of such progress, issues with contamination still remain. Persistent contaminants, such as the herbicide atrazine, plague surface water systems well outside the bounds of American farming regions and have established a constant presence in raw and treated drinking water. Despite being monitored as a regulated contaminant by the US Environmental Protection Agency, 'healthy' exposure levels are still the subject of debate among water protection and health watchdog groups. This thesis utilizes a review of water system literature to identify a potential solution for atrazine contamination using phytoremediation treatment technology deployed in floating raft systems to reduce the impact on surface water. Extensive study of precedents, hydroponics, boat design, biomimicry, and human factors considerations informed a design process for the development of a raft system prototype. A study of the prototype was conducted using 30 novice users to identify areas of improvement in terms of human factors considerations, functional attributes, and subjective characteristics. Along with gathering primary research into a possible connector unit design, this study sought to evaluate the potential for project success using a comparative analysis against a leading market competitor. This thesis concludes that the project shows promise, but requires additional testing in a large scale, longitudinal study to ensure future implementations are met with success."--Abstract

"A literature review was conducted on the uses, fate, and effects of atrazine on raw water for drinking water supply, freshwater aquatic life, agricultural water uses, recreational water quality and aesthetics, and industrial water supplies"--Abstract.

Pesticides in the soil environment - an overview. Pesticide sources to the soil and principles of spray physics. The retention processes: mechanisms. Sorption estimates for modeling. Abiotic transformations in water, sediments, and soil. Biological transformation processes of pesticides. Volatilization and vapor transport processes. Organic chemical transport to Groundwater. Movement of pesticides into surface waters. Modeling pesticide fate in soils. Efficacy of soil-applied pesticides. Impact of pesticides on the environment. Risk/benefit and regulations. Chemical index.