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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 #71966
Title: ASSESSMENT OF PESTICIDE AND METABOLITE OCCURRENCE IN SHALLOW GROUNDWATER OF A COASTAL PLAIN WATERSHED

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

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: The potential for pesticide contamination of shallow groundwater can be minimized by implementing best management practices (BMPs). The effectiveness of pesticide BMPs at maintaining shallow groundwater quality was evaluated by monitoring for nine parent pesticides and two metabolites in shallow (8-m-deep) wells in a Coastal Plain watershed in Duplin Co., NC. .Water samples were collected from 92 wells from May 1993 to May 1996 and were initially screened using immunoassay techniques. Positive detections were further analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry. The majority (95%) of the samples over the three years of monitoring had no detections for the 11 compounds. The high proportion of wells without pesticide detections indicates that pesticides have not caused widespread pesticide contamination of shallow groundwater and that local BMPs are effective in maintaining shallow groundwater quality.