{"id":28527,"date":"2021-01-15T00:01:44","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T04:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=28527"},"modified":"2021-01-15T11:04:06","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T15:04:06","slug":"millions-of-people-drinking-groundwater-with-pesticides-or-pesticide-degradates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/01\/millions-of-people-drinking-groundwater-with-pesticides-or-pesticide-degradates\/","title":{"rendered":"Millions of People Drinking Groundwater with Pesticides or Pesticide Degradates"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, January 15, 2021)\u00a0A study of groundwater<\/a> that feeds public drinking water supply finds pesticides in 41% of supply wells (and a handful of freshwater springs). Two-thirds of that 41% contain pesticide compounds per se, and one-third contain pesticide degradates \u2014 compounds resulting from biotic (or abiotic) transformation of pesticides into other compounds. There is considerable ink (digital and actual) covering the health and environmental impacts of pesticide exposures<\/a>, and reporting on the issue of pesticide migration into groundwater and waterways<\/a>. Beyond Pesticides maintains that organic practices in land management<\/a>, and especially in agriculture, are the solution to the contamination of our waterways and groundwater. Such practices, widely adopted, would have enormous salutary effects<\/a> on human health and the health of ecosystems and their inhabitants.<\/p>\r\n

Published in Environmental Science & Technology<\/em>,<\/a> the study paper reports this research as the \u201cfirst systematic assessment of raw [untreated] groundwater used for public drinking supply across the United States to include and provide human-health context for a large number of pesticide degradates.\u201d Samples for the research were gathered across 1,204 sites \u2014 at or near the wellheads \u2014 in 23 principal aquifers whose groundwater is tapped for drinking water supply used by approximately 73 million people. The samples were analyzed for 109 pesticides and 116 degradates.<\/p>\r\n

How do pesticide compounds get into groundwater and drinking supplies? Rain or snow melt can transport pesticides from farm fields, residential properties, and managed turf (e.g., golf courses, parks, athletic fields, etc.) through storm drains, or as runoff that is absorbed into surface soils \u2014 especially fairly permeable soils. The water than percolates down, in a process known as \u201crecharge,\u201d into deeper soils. Any aquifers, whether shallow or deep, acquire this water with the pollutants in it.<\/p>\r\n

Wells that draw on such aquifers, whether public or private, can become contaminated with pesticides and their degradates. The paper notes that<\/a>, \u201cPesticide degradates are often detected more frequently and at higher concentrations than their parents due to high transformation rates and because long travel times, common from source to the depth zone used for public supply, support environmental transformation.\u201d In addition, aerial pesticide application can land on off-target areas or arrive via drift, contributing to the migration of these compounds through soils and into groundwater.<\/p>\r\n

As context, the paper sets out<\/a> the magnitude of pesticide use (excluding antimicrobials and biologics) in the U.S. \u2014 400\u2013450 million kg from 2005 through 2012 \u2014 and recognizes that \u201cpesticide compounds vary widely with respect to types of human-health effects and potential degree of toxicity.\u201d It identifies the five most common agricultural pesticides in use as of 2017: glyphosate<\/a>, atrazine<\/a>, metolachlor-(S<\/em>)<\/a>, 2,4-D<\/a>, and acetochlor<\/a>, and notes results of a 2020 study showing that in the western U.S., atrazine is the most frequently detected pesticide in drinking water supplies (see bullet points, below).<\/p>\r\n

The occurrence of particular pesticide compounds and degradates in groundwater shows variance across different regions of the country. These variances are due to a variety of local factors, including: particular regional agricultural pesticide uses and protocols; proximity to non-agricultural sources of pesticide use (e.g., golf courses or other managed turf); local hydrological dynamics; and the nature of the local\/regional soils, among others.<\/p>\r\n

Among the analysis data of the research were these outcomes:<\/p>\r\n