Chapter 14
Potential Movement of Certain Pesticides Following Application to Golf Courses A. E. Smith and D. C. Bridges
Downloaded by CORNELL UNIV on August 19, 2016 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 21, 1996 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1996-0630.ch014
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia, Georgia Experiment Station, Griffin, GA 30223
The environmental fate and safety of pesticides used in the management of recreational facilities is a critical issue facing the turfgrass industry. The purpose of this research was to determine the potential movement of certain pesticides following application to golf course greens and fairways. Greenhouse and outside lysimeters were constructed and leachate, exiting the base of the lysimeters, was collected and analyzed for transport of treatment pesticides. Herbicide movement from simulated fairways was determined following treatment of small plots having a 5% slope and sodded with 'Tifway' bermudagrass. The data indicate that less than 1% of the applied pesticides were transported in the leachate from the base of the lysimeters. Highest concentrations of analytes in the leachate were less than 5.0 μg L . However, higher concentrations (279 to 810 μg L ) of the treatment herbicides were transported in the runoff water from the treated simulated fairway plots. -1
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Although agriculture is the largest user of pesticides in North America, turfgrass is typically the most intensively managed biotic system (7). The public demand for high quality and uniform turf often requires the use of intensive management strategies to maximize pest control and nutrient availability (2) resulting in increased public awareness of pesticide use. The enhanced interest is, in general, a response to the increased use of pesticides and fertilizer since the 1960s and advancements in technology allowing scientists to detect their presence at very low concentrations (5). The major concern about pesticides in the environment is their potential entrance into drinking water sources by movement in surface water and groundwater from the treated site (4). Erosion and surface runoff processes in relation to water quality and environmental impacts have been examined by Anderson et al. (5), Leonard (
