About 5 million tons of pesticides have been used annually to control insects, weeds, and other pests. However, more and more concerns have arisen regarding the adverse effects of pesticides on the environment, wildlife, and human health. Pesticides can be transferred from one medium to another, and can experience complex chemical and physical interactions with other chemical species in the environment. All these processes can affect the fate and transport of pesticides, and quantifying their impacts requires a multi-media, multi-pollutant, and multi-disciplinary approach. We developed a multi-media, multi-pollutant fate and chemical transport modeling system that has become a useful tool for addressing various issues caused by environmental pesticides. Our results show that the atmospheric emissions and transport of pesticides from agricultural fields can play a dominant role in contaminating important water resources, which are used as drinking water as well as for recreation, irrigation, and many other purposes.

Significant impact of atmospheric emissions and transport of pesticides on water resources

254th National Meeting (2017)

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