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ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #243975

Title: Pesticide Transport with Runoff from Creeping Bentgrass Turf: Relationship of Pesticide Properties to Mass Transport

Author
item Rice, Pamela
item HORGAN, BRIAN - University Of Minnesota
item Hamlin, Jennifer

Submitted to: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/11/2010
Publication Date: 4/24/2010
Citation: Rice, P.J., Horgan, B.P., Rittenhouse, J.L. 2010. Pesticide Transport with Runoff from Creeping Bentgrass Turf: Relationship of Pesticide Properties to Mass Transport. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 29(6):1209-1214.

Interpretive Summary: Pesticide transport with runoff is both an agronomic and environmental concern resulting from reduced control of target pests in the area of pesticide application and contamination of surrounding ecosystems. Experiments were designed to measure the quantity of pesticides in runoff from creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris) turf managed as golf course fairway to gain a better understanding of factors that influence chemical availability and mass transport. Less than one to 23 % of applied chloropyrifos, flutolanil, mecoprop-p (MCPP), dimethylamine salt of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), or dicamba was measured in edge-of-plot runoff when commercially available pesticide formulations were applied at label rates 23 ± 9 h prior to simulated precipitation (62 ± 13 mm). Time differential between hollow tine core cultivation and runoff did not significantly influence runoff volumes or the percentage of applied chemicals transported in the runoff. With the exception of chlorpyrifos, all chemicals of interest were detected in the initial runoff samples and throughout the runoff events. Chemographs of the five pesticides followed trends in agreement with mobility classifications associated with their soil organic carbon partition coefficient (KOC). Data collected from the present study provides information on the transport of chemicals with runoff from turf, which can be used in model simulations to predict non-point source pollution potentials and estimate ecological risks.

Technical Abstract: The off-site transport of pesticides with runoff is both an agronomic and environmental concern resulting from reduced control of target pests in the area of application and contamination of surrounding ecosystems. Experiments were designed to measure the quantity of pesticides in runoff from creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris) turf managed as golf course fairway to gain a better understanding of factors that influence chemical availability and mass transport. Less than one to 23 % of applied chloropyrifos, flutolanil, mecoprop-p (MCPP), dimethylamine salt of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), or dicamba was measured in edge-of-plot runoff when commercially available pesticide formulations were applied at label rates 23 ± 9 h prior to simulated precipitation (62 ± 13 mm). Time differential between hollow tine core cultivation and runoff did not significantly influence runoff volumes or the percentage of applied chemicals transported in the runoff. With the exception of chlorpyrifos, all chemicals of interest were detected in the initial runoff samples and throughout the runoff events. Chemographs of the five pesticides followed trends in agreement with mobility classifications associated with their soil organic carbon partition coefficient (KOC). Data collected from the present study provides information on the transport of chemicals with runoff from turf, which can be used in model simulations to predict non-point source pollution potentials and estimate ecological risks.