Monitoring pesticides in the groundwater and submarine groundwater discharge of the Eastern Shore of Virginia

The purpose of the research was to determine if pesticides were being transported from the place of application by the shallow groundwater and discharged into the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, and quantify the pesticides if they were transported. One reference (undeveloped) and four agricultural sites were tested over a 11 month period from April 1992 to February 1993. Over 500 groundwater samples were analyzed from both shallow wells and seepage meters placed in the Chesapeake Bay and Magothy Bay. The samples were analyzed in accordance to EPA Method 525.1 by solid phase extraction with octadecyl bonded disks followed by gas chromatography. The samples were examined for 5 of the most commonly used pesticides: atrazine, alachlor, carbofuran, cyanazine, and metolachlor. Pesticides were detected in only 16 samples. All the detections were at low concentrations, with only one being over 1 μg/L. The study concluded that if pesticides were being transported by the groundwater, they were below a μg/L (ppb).