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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #71967

Title: EFFECTS OF SUMMER STORM FLOW ON PESTICIDES IN A COASTAL PLAIN STREAM SYSTEM: CONCENTRATIONS AND EXPORTS

Author
item Watts, Donald - Don
item Novak, Jeffrey
item Johnson, Melvin - Mel
item Stone, Kenneth - Ken

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A two-year (1994-1995) stream monitoring study was initiated to assess potential contamination by pesticides of a stream system in a North Carolina Coastal Plain agricultural watershed. Grab samples were collected weekly during the growing season and twice a month during the remaining months. An automated, flow proportional, refrigerated sampler equipped with an integral flow meter was established at the watershed outlet to continuously collect samples exiting the watershed. Samples were analyzed for three separate families of pesticides (triazine, chloroacetamide, and acetanilide fungicide) as well as two pesticide metabolites. In 1995, the growing season was punctuated with a summer storm period that exceeded the five-year average rainfall for June by 23.5 cm. During this period, the total number of pesticide detections and the concentration of detected pesticides in collected grab samples increased significantly. However, analysis of the flow proportional samples indicated that the export of pesticides out of the watershed was sporadic.