Significance of urban and agricultural land use for biocide and pesticide dynamics in surface waters

Abstract

Biocides and pesticides are designed to control the occurrence of unwanted organisms. From their point of application, these substances can be mobilized and transported to surface waters posing a threat to the aquatic environment. Historically, agricultural pesticides have received substantially more attention than biocidal compounds from urban use, despite being used in similar quantities. This study aims at improving our understanding of the influence of mixed urban and agricultural land use on the overall concentration dynamics of biocides and pesticides during rain events throughout the year. A comprehensive field study was conducted in a catchment within the Swiss plateau (25 km(2)). Four surface water sampling sites represented varying combinations of urban and agricultural sources. Additionally, the urban drainage system was studied by sampling the only wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the catchment, a combined sewer overflow (CSO), and a storm sewer (SS). High temporal resolution sampling was carried out during rain events from March to November 2007. The results, based on more than 600 samples analyzed for 23 substances, revealed distinct and complex concentration patterns for different compounds and sources. Five types of concentration patterns can be distinguished: a) compounds that showed elevated background concentrations throughout the year (e.g. diazinon >50 ng L(-1)), indicating a constant household source; b) compounds that showed elevated concentrations driven by rain events throughout the year (e.g. diuron 100-300 ng L(-1)), indicating a constant urban outdoor source such as facades; c) compounds with seasonal peak concentrations driven by rain events from urban and agricultural areas (e.g. mecoprop 1600 ng L(-1) and atrazine 2500 ng L(-1) respectively); d) compounds that showed unpredictably sharp peaks (e.g. atrazine 10,000 ng L(-1), diazinon 2500 ng L(-1)), which were most probably due to improper handling or even disposal of products; and finally, e) compounds that were used in high amounts but were not detected in surface waters (e.g. isothiazolinones). It can be safely concluded that in catchments of mixed land use, the contributions of biocide and pesticide inputs into surface waters from urban areas are at least as important as those from agricultural areas.