Aquatic pesticide exposure in the U.S. as a result of non-agricultural uses

Sebastian Stehle; Abigail Bline; Sascha Bub; Lara Luisa Petschick; Jakob Wolfram; Ralf Schulz

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105234

Aquatic pesticide exposure in the U.S. as a result of non-agricultural uses

Environ Int. 2019 Dec;133(Pt B):105234. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105234. Epub 2019 Oct 22.

Authors

Sebastian Stehle¹, Abigail Bline², Sascha Bub³, Lara Luisa Petschick³, Jakob Wolfram³, Ralf Schulz³

Affiliations

¹ iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstrasse 7, D-76829 Landau, Germany; Eusserthal Ecosystem Research Station, University of Koblenz-Landau, Birkenthalstrasse 13, 76857 Eusserthal, Germany. Electronic address: stehle@uni-landau.de.
² Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
³ iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstrasse 7, D-76829 Landau, Germany.

PMID: 31654914
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105234

Abstract

Non-agricultural uses of pesticides are common in the U.S. and may thus lead to exposure of non-target ecosystems such as urban waterways. However, surface water exposure resulting from agricultural pesticide uses has received substantially more attention during the last decades. Here we conducted a literature review and meta-analysis of peer-reviewed studies to identify measured environmental concentrations (MEC) of pesticides in perennial surface water bodies due to non-agricultural uses in the U.S. Acute and chronic Aquatic Life Benchmarks (ALB_acute, ALB_chronic) for water-phase concentrations and regulatory threshold levels (RTL_SED) for sediment concentrations were used for risk evaluations. Based on 10,755 MECs retrieved from 70 scientific studies, results show that a multitude of pesticide compounds (approx. 150) have been detected at 609 urban surface water sites. Particularly herbicides and insecticides were among the most frequently detected compounds in the water phase, whereas insecticides dominated detections in sediments. While overall acute (5.64% ALB_acute exceedances; n = 9034 MEC) and chronic (9.31% ALB_chronic exceedances; n = 9036 MEC) risks were comparably low in the water phase, 35% of sediment concentrations (n = 1621 MEC) exceeded RTL_SED. Insecticides and particularly pyrethroids were identified as the main drivers of benchmark exceedances in both the water phase and sediments. In addition to pesticide type, a linear model analysis identified further drivers important for risks such as sampling methods. Overall insecticide risks in non-agricultural surface waters were significantly (by a factor of 1.9) lower than those already known from agricultural surface waters in the U.S. However, substantially higher risks in sediments were identified for urban compared with agricultural waterbodies. The present study provides the first comprehensive assessment of pesticides in urban surface waters in the U.S. with overall results indicating common occurrence and non-negligible risks particularly due to urban insecticide uses.

Keywords: Environmental risk assessment; Meta-analysis; Pesticides; Surface waters; Urban.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollution / statistics & numerical data*
Fresh Water / analysis*
Pesticides / analysis*
United States
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Pesticides
Water Pollutants, Chemical