Groundwater vulnerability to pesticides in Northwest Bangladesh

The transport and leaching potential hazards of various pesticides were studied in a shallow unconfined aquifer located in Northwest Bangladesh. Pesticide leaching potential was quantified using a one-dimensional advective–dispersive transport equation for a non-conservative chemical that follows fi...

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Main Authors: Anwar, Faisal, Yunus, Anika
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/10408
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author Anwar, Faisal
Yunus, Anika
author_facet Anwar, Faisal
Yunus, Anika
author_sort Anwar, Faisal
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The transport and leaching potential hazards of various pesticides were studied in a shallow unconfined aquifer located in Northwest Bangladesh. Pesticide leaching potential was quantified using a one-dimensional advective–dispersive transport equation for a non-conservative chemical that follows first-order decay and linear adsorption in soils. Leaching potential index (LPI) was calculated for 69 sites in the study area to evaluate the relative vulnerability to pesticide leaching and to prioritize sites for model study and soil sampling. The numerical ranks of computed LPI were grouped by quantiles into very high, high, moderate, low and very low categories; and based on these rankings, the most vulnerable site was selected. The fate and transport of pesticides in this most vulnerable site was modeled using MT3D. The model results indicate that pesticides with high sorptivity and moderate to high persistence have low potential impact on groundwater. Top soils are found to be particularly vulnerable to the accumulation of organochlorine pesticides. Results also revealed that decreasing the soil organic matter and increasing the half-life of the pesticides at deeper depths did not make any significant change. Finally, six soil samples were collected from the same site at depths of 0.0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, and 7.5 m for the analysis of pesticide residues. The soil–water was extracted from the samples following standard extraction technique and tested using gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for pesticide residues. Results showed no trace of pesticide residues in the soil–water; however, a few unknown peaks were detected indicating the use of some unknown brand of chemicals in the study area.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-104082017-09-13T14:50:54Z Groundwater vulnerability to pesticides in Northwest Bangladesh Anwar, Faisal Yunus, Anika Sorption Pesticide Leaching Vulnerability Soil–water Groundwater Bangladesh The transport and leaching potential hazards of various pesticides were studied in a shallow unconfined aquifer located in Northwest Bangladesh. Pesticide leaching potential was quantified using a one-dimensional advective–dispersive transport equation for a non-conservative chemical that follows first-order decay and linear adsorption in soils. Leaching potential index (LPI) was calculated for 69 sites in the study area to evaluate the relative vulnerability to pesticide leaching and to prioritize sites for model study and soil sampling. The numerical ranks of computed LPI were grouped by quantiles into very high, high, moderate, low and very low categories; and based on these rankings, the most vulnerable site was selected. The fate and transport of pesticides in this most vulnerable site was modeled using MT3D. The model results indicate that pesticides with high sorptivity and moderate to high persistence have low potential impact on groundwater. Top soils are found to be particularly vulnerable to the accumulation of organochlorine pesticides. Results also revealed that decreasing the soil organic matter and increasing the half-life of the pesticides at deeper depths did not make any significant change. Finally, six soil samples were collected from the same site at depths of 0.0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, and 7.5 m for the analysis of pesticide residues. The soil–water was extracted from the samples following standard extraction technique and tested using gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for pesticide residues. Results showed no trace of pesticide residues in the soil–water; however, a few unknown peaks were detected indicating the use of some unknown brand of chemicals in the study area. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/10408 10.1007/s12665-013-2708-1 Springer restricted
spellingShingle Sorption
Pesticide
Leaching
Vulnerability
Soil–water
Groundwater
Bangladesh
Anwar, Faisal
Yunus, Anika
Groundwater vulnerability to pesticides in Northwest Bangladesh
title Groundwater vulnerability to pesticides in Northwest Bangladesh
title_full Groundwater vulnerability to pesticides in Northwest Bangladesh
title_fullStr Groundwater vulnerability to pesticides in Northwest Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed Groundwater vulnerability to pesticides in Northwest Bangladesh
title_short Groundwater vulnerability to pesticides in Northwest Bangladesh
title_sort groundwater vulnerability to pesticides in northwest bangladesh
topic Sorption
Pesticide
Leaching
Vulnerability
Soil–water
Groundwater
Bangladesh
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/10408