Pesticides Dropping in Groundwater?
From Discovery News:
Pesticide concentrations in groundwater held constant or decreased over a recent 10-year period, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey.The study sampled 362 wells across the country from 1993 to 1995 and again from 2001 to 2003.
“Looking at trends, it doesn’t look like we’re seeing any increases in concentration or detection frequency,” said study author Laura Bexfield of the USGS in Albuquerque, N.M. “If anything, a couple of the compounds seemed to decrease. Overall, I think it’s a good story.”
Although more than half of shallow wells in urban or agricultural areas and one-third of deep aquifers contain measurable amounts of at least one pesticide, only six pesticide compounds were detected in 10 or more wells during each of the two sampling cycles.
Bexfield found a significant decline in atrazine — one of the most-used pesticides — and its breakdown product, and in prometon, which is used in non-agricultural settings to control weeds, near buildings and along transportation routes.
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