Seasonal exposures to triazine and other pesticides in surface waters in the western Highveld corn-production region in South Africa

Preez, Louis H. Du; Rensburg, Peet Jansen van; Jooste, Alarik M.; Carr, James A.; Giesy, John P.; Gross, Timothy S.; Kendall, Ronald J.; Kraak, Glen Van Der; Solomon, Keith R.

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2004.09.019

Cited by 87 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The negative impacts on wild amphibians is especially concerning given that the dose examined here (2.5 ppb) is in the range that animals experience year-round in areas where atrazine is used (1,32,46), well within levels found in rainfall (47), in which levels can exceed 100 ppb in the midwestern United States (48), and below the current US Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standard of 3 ppb (49). Furthermore, recent studies have shown that frog skin absorbs atrazine at much higher rates than the skin of mammals (50), and even semiterrestrial frog species take up significant amounts of atrazine (51).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis)

Hayes

Khoury

Narayan

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

525

307

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The herbicide atrazine is one of the most commonly applied pesticides in the world. As a result, atrazine is the most commonly detected pesticide contaminant of ground, surface, and drinking water. Atrazine is also a potent endocrine disruptor that is active at low, ecologically relevant concentrations. Previous studies showed that atrazine adversely affects amphibian larval development. The present study demonstrates the reproductive consequences of atrazine exposure in adult amphibians. Atrazineexposed males were both demasculinized (chemically castrated) and completely feminized as adults. Ten percent of the exposed genetic males developed into functional females that copulated with unexposed males and produced viable eggs. Atrazineexposed males suffered from depressed testosterone, decreased breeding gland size, demasculinized/feminized laryngeal development, suppressed mating behavior, reduced spermatogenesis, and decreased fertility. These data are consistent with effects of atrazine observed in other vertebrate classes. The present findings exemplify the role that atrazine and other endocrine-disrupting pesticides likely play in global amphibian declines.A trazine is one of the most widely used pesticides in the world. Approximately 80 million pounds are applied annually in the United States alone, and atrazine is the most common pesticide contaminant of ground and surface water (1). Atrazine can be transported more than 1,000 km from the point of application via rainfall and, as a result, contaminates otherwise pristine habitats, even in remote areas where it is not used (2, 3). In fact, more than a half million pounds of atrazine are precipitated in rainfall each year in the United States (2).In addition to its persistence, mobility, and widespread contamination of water, atrazine is also a concern because several studies have shown that atrazine is a potent endocrine disruptor active in the ppb (parts per billion) range in fish (4, 5), amphibians (6-12), reptiles, and human cell lines (5, 13-15), and at higher doses (ppm) in reptiles (16-18), birds (19), and laboratory rodents (20-28). Atrazine seems to be most potent in amphibians, where it is active at levels as low as 0.1 ppb (6-10). Although a few studies suggest that atrazine has no effect on amphibians under certain laboratory conditions (29,30), in other studies, atrazine reduces testicular volume; reduces germ cell and Sertoli cell numbers (11); induces hermaphroditism (6, 8, 10); reduces testosterone (10); and induces testicular oogenesis (7-9, 31). Furthermore, atrazine contamination is associated with demasculinization and feminization of amphibians in agricultural areas where atrazine is used (32) and directly correlated with atrazine contamination in the wild (7,9,33,34).Despite the wealth of data from larvae and newly metamorphosed amphibians, the ultimate impacts of atrazine's developmental effects on reproductive function and fitness at sexual maturity, which relate more closely to population level effects and amphibian declines, have b...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis)

Hayes

Khoury

Narayan

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

525

307

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“…A recent South African pesticide prioritisation study by Dabrowski et al (2014) featured atrazine as the highest ranked pesticide. Owing in part to its wide use in maize production, this herbicide has frequently been detected in South African freshwater systems (Dabrowski et al, 2013;Du Preez et al, 2005;Pick et al, 1992). A study by Ravier et al (2005) had previously used atrazine to monitor atmospheric spray drift up to 134 m downwind.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of the AGDISP model for predicting airborne atrazine spray drift: A South African ground application case study

et al. 2015

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Air dispersion software models for evaluating pesticide spray drift during application have been developed that can potentially serve as a cheaper convenient alternative to field monitoring campaigns.Such models require validation against field monitoring data in order for them to be employed with confidence, especially when they are used to implement regulatory measures or to evaluate potential human exposure levels. In this case study, off-target pesticide drift was monitored during ground application of a pesticide mixture to a sorghum field in South Africa. Atrazine was used as a drift tracer.High volume air sampling onto polyurethane foam (PUF) was conducted at six downwind locations and at four heights at each sampling point. Additional data, including meteorological information, required to simulate the spray drift with the AGDISP® air dispersion model was collected. The PUF plugs were extracted by a plunger method utilising a hexane:acetone mixture with analysis by GC-NPD (94.5% recovery, 3.3% RSD, and LOD 8.7 pg). Atrazine concentrations ranged from 4.55 ng L -1 adjacent to the field to 186 pg L -1 at 400 m downwind. These results compared favourably with modeled output data, resulting in the validation of the model up to 400 m from the application site for the first time.

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“…Additionally, one has to consider that this area is intensively cultivated (as demonstrated by the data on yield per surface area 14 ) and that there are some crops, such as rice and vegetables which are found essentially in the Ferrara area. Previous studies have demonstrated that water pollution from NPS is strictly related to agricultural land use 19 , and this is the case in ER as well. In fact, both terbutylazine and metholachlor (two of the most widely used herbicides) are frequently detected in the Ferrara area.…”

Section: Instruments and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

GC/MS Analysis of Pesticides in the Ferrara Area (Italy) Surface Water: A Chemometric Study.

Pasti

Nava²,

Morelli³

et al. 2007

Annali di Chimica

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The development of a network to monitor surface waters is a critical element in the assessment, restoration and protection of water quality. In this study, concentrations of 42 pesticides--determined by GC-MS on samples from 11 points along the Ferrara area rivers--have been analyzed by chemometric tools. The data were collected over a three-year period (2002-2004). Principal component analysis of the detected pesticides was carried out in order to define the best spatial locations for the sampling points. The results obtained have been interpreted in view of agricultural land use. Time series data regarding pesticide contents in surface waters has been analyzed using the Autocorrelation function. This chemometric tool allows for seasonal trends and makes it possible to optimize sampling frequency in order to detect the effective maximum pesticide content.

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Seasonal exposures to triazine and other pesticides in surface waters in the western Highveld corn-production region in South Africa

Cited by 87 publications

References 17 publications

Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis)

Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis)

Validation of the AGDISP model for predicting airborne atrazine spray drift: A South African ground application case study

GC/MS Analysis of Pesticides in the Ferrara Area (Italy) Surface Water: A Chemometric Study.

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