Pesticides, concern over groundwater

Concern over the contamination of soils and water has led to the development of formulations that prevent entry of the pesticides into the groundwater while main-... 

The topic of this symposium is both timely and of special concern to many sectors of the public as it combines two contrasting subject matters. Groundwater, being an essential natural resource, has been assumed to be pristine in quality and must not be violated by contamination. After all, 86% of the water in the United States is stored in aquifers over 50% of the U. S. population atid 95% of rural U. S. use groundwater as drinking water. On the other hand, any mention of pesticides often connotes substances that are toxic, hazardous, and even life-threatening. A tremendous amount of pesticides is produced and used in the U. S. each year. In 1984, 1.1 billion pounds was synthesized even this amount was down from the 1.5 billion pounds produced in 1975 (1). 

Over the last decades, several hundreds of pesticides have been marketed for intensive farming and domestic use. The widespread use of these compounds has resulted in contamination of environmental compartments, such as surface water, groundwater, soil, and air (Tariq et al. 2004 Femandez-Alvarez et al. 2008 Xue et al. 2005 Hamer et al. 2005). Studies focussing on the assessment of pesticide exposure and on the adverse effects of pesticides on both human health and the environment are a matter of a growing scientific and pubhc concern (Dorr et al. 2007 Ritter et al. 2006). 

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