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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Water Quality and Ecology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #196926
Title: MICROCOSM EVALUATION OF THE FATE AND EFFECTS OF ATRAZINE AND LAMBDA-CYHALOTHRIN IN UNVEGETATED AND VEGETATED MONOCULTURES

Author
item BOULDIN, JENNIFER - ARKANSAS STATE UNIV
item FARRIS, JERRY - ARKANSAS STATE UNIV
item Moore, Matthew
item Smith Jr, Sammie
item STEPHENS, WILLIAM - ENSR
item Cooper, Charles

Submitted to: SETAC Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/5/2006
Publication Date: 5/25/2006
Citation: Bouldin, J.L., Farris, J.L., Moore, M.T., Smith Jr, S., Stephens, W.W., Cooper, C.M. 2006. Microcosm evaluation of the fate and effects of atrazine and lambda-cyhalothrin in unvegetated and vegetated monocultures. SETAC Conference.

Interpretive Summary: Abstract only. Interpretive summary not required.

Technical Abstract: Contaminants such as nutrients, metals, and pesticides can interact with constructed wetlands and existing drainage ditches used as agricultural best management practices. Our research has shown that macrophyte presence and hydrologic regime aid in transfer and transformation of pesticides associated with agricultural runoff. This study consisted of applications of both atrazine (triazine herbicide) and lambda-cyhalothrin (pyrethroid insecticide) to vegetated and unvegetated microcosms to measure fate and effects of pesticides applied at suggested field application rates. Exposures focused on monocultures of Ludwigia peploides (water primrose) and Juncus effusus (soft rush). Pesticide sorption was evident through atrazine and lambda-cyhalothrin concentrations in plant tissue as high as 2461 and 87 ug/kg, respectively. Toxicity was measured in water from unvegetated microcosms through 28 d and in Chironomus tentans (midge larvae) exposed to sediments collected from 3 h to 56 d in microcosms receiving the pesticide contamination. Comparative survival of test organisms from this study suggests that effective mitigation of pesticides from runoff can be dependent upon macrophyte contact and vegetative attributes associated with ditches.