USGS · ds667
Dissolved pesticides, dissolved organic carbon, and water-quality characteristics in selected Idaho streams, April--December 2010
Abstract
Water-quality samples were collected from April through December 2010 from four streams in Idaho and analyzed for a suite of pesticides, including fungicides, by the U.S. Geological Survey. Water samples were collected from two agricultural and two nonagricultural (control) streams approximately biweekly from the beginning of the growing season (April) through the end of the calendar year (December). Samples were analyzed for 90 pesticides using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Twenty-three pesticides, including 8 fungicides, 10 herbicides, 3 insecticides, and 2 pesticide degradates, were detected in 45 water samples. The most frequently detected compounds in the two agricultural streams and their detection frequencies were metolachlor, 96 percent; azoxystrobin, 79 percent; boscalid, 79 percent; atrazine, 46 percent; pendimethalin, 33 percent; and trifluralin, 33 percent. Dissolved-pesticide concentrations ranged from below instrumental limits of detection (0.5-1.0 nanograms per liter) to 771 nanograms per liter (hexazinone). The total number of pesticides detected in any given water sample ranged from 0 to 11. Only three pesticides (atrazine, fipronil, and simazine) were detected in samples from the control streams during the sampling period.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Timothy J. Reilly, Kelly L. Smalling, Emma R. Wilson, William A. Battaglin. 2012. Dissolved pesticides, dissolved organic carbon, and water-quality characteristics in selected Idaho streams, April--December 2010. https://doi.org/10.3133/ds667
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.