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Pesticides Contamination Water Test Parameters
- POST a QUESTION or COMMENT about testing drinking water for pesticide contamination
This article explains choosing water tests to check for the presence of pesticide chemicals in drinking water wells.Be sure to review actual parameters with your home inspector or laboratory: parameters and costs vary.
The example water test fees shown here includes a base collection fee plus the actual lab costs for the specific water tests performed. Note that some water test companies and private water test collectors will add a markup on lab costs.
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Pesticides Contamination- water test parameters - how to check for pesticide contaminants in drinking water
Watch out: There are at least two different pesticide tests which check drinking water for the presence of chemicals used during two different eras of pesticides in common use in North America.
So depending on the age of the property and when pesticides may have been applied, you want to be sure to order the correct pesticide screening test.
This website describes the types of water testing available, outlines common water test fees, describes the details of what parameters are included in various water test options, and gives advice to assist you in deciding what tests to order.
The list of test parameters below is a typical selection for water supply when there is reason to suspect contamination by pesticides.
Wells near golf courses, on farms, or at older homes which were treated or suspected of having been treated for insect pests are candidates for this procedure. Note: these water tests and water test laboratory fees will vary depending on lab chosen and subject to lab rate changes without notice.
Be sure to review actual parameters with your home inspector or laboratory: parameters and costs vary.
Water Test Parameters for Pesticide Contaminants |
Water Analysis |
Aldrin |
a-BHC |
b-BHC |
d-BHC |
g-BHC |
Chlordane |
4,4'-DDD |
4,4'-DDE |
4,4'-DDT |
Dieldrin |
Endosulfan I |
Endosulfan II |
Endosulfan Sulfate |
Endrin |
Endrin Aldehyde |
Heptachlor |
Heptachlor Epoxide |
Methoxychlor |
Toxaphene |
What drinking water contamination tests should you order? This article explains the general classes of water contaminants covered in a water test for pesticides or pesticide contamination. Be sure to review the pesticide test alternatives with your water test consultant or lab.
Research on Pesticide Contamination of Well Water
- Goss, M. J., D. A. J. Barry, and D. L. Rudolph. "Contamination in Ontario farmstead domestic wells and its association with agriculture:: 1. Results from drinking water wells." Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 32, no. 3-4 (1998): 267-293.
- Pesticide Contamination of Farm Water Sources [PDF], Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, & Rural Affairs, retrieved 2018/03/06, original source: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/15-001.htm
- Rodriguez-Mozaz, Sara, Maria J. López de Alda, and Damià Barceló. "Monitoring of estrogens, pesticides and bisphenol A in natural waters and drinking water treatment plants by solid-phase extraction–liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry." Journal of Chromatography A 1045, no. 1-2 (2004): 85-92.
- Stackelberg, Paul E., Edward T. Furlong, Michael T. Meyer, Steven D. Zaugg, Alden K. Henderson, and Dori B. Reissman. "Persistence of pharmaceutical compounds and other organic wastewater contaminants in a conventional drinking-water-treatment plant." Science of the total environment 329, no. 1-3 (2004): 99-113.
- Wauchope, R. D. "The Pesticide Content of Surface Water Draining from Agricultural Fields—A Review 1." Journal of environmental quality 7, no. 4 (1978): 459-472.
Abstract
The literature on pesticide losses in runoff waters from agricultural fields is reviewed. For the majority of commercial pesticides, total losses are 0.5%0 or less of the amounts applied, unless severe rainfall conditions occur within 1–2 weeks after application.
Exceptions are the organochlorine insecticides, which may lose about 1% regardless of weather pattern because of their long persistence; and soil surface-applied, wettable-powder formulations of herbicides, which may lose up to 5%, depending on weather and slope, because of the ease of washoff of the powder.
Pesticides with solubilities of 10 ppm or higher are lost mainly in the water phase of runoff, and erosion control practices will have little effect on such losses. Organochlorine pesticides, paraquat, and arsenical pesticides, however, are important cases of pesticides which are strongly adsorbed by sediments, and erosion control can be important in controlling losses of these compounds. The behavior and fate of pesticides in streams receiving runoff is generally not known.
Information on such factors as time and distance of impact of a given runoff event, ability of local ecosystems to recover from transient pesticide concentrations, and dissipation or concentration processes in aquatic ecosystems will have to be obtained before “edge-of-field” pesticide losses can be related to water quality in receiving waters. - World Health Organization. GUIDELINES for DRINKING WATER QUALITY Vol. 2, Health criteria and other supporting information . [PDF] (1996) retrieved 2018/03/06
...
Continue reading at PESTICIDE EXPOSURE HAZARDS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX .
Or see WATER TESTING ADVICE for home buyers and building owners: water contaminants, water test procedures, well shock procedures, preventing drinking water
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PESTICIDE CONTAMINATION TEST at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.
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Citations & References
In addition to any citations in the article above, a full list is available on request.
- WATER PUMP REPAIR GUIDE an specific case offers an example of diagnosis of loss of water pressure, loss of water, and analyzes the actual repair cost
- Water pressure tank failures & water pump short cycling diagnosis and repair
- 1-Bromo-3-chloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (C5H6BrClN2O2) is produced world-wide and is also used in cleaners and bathroom disinfectants and deodorizers. Here is an example MSDS for this product, provided by Leisure Time
- "Bacteria in Drinking Water" - "Chlorine," Karen Mancl, water quality specialist, Agricultural Engineering, Ohio State University Extension. Mancl explains factors affecting the effectiveness of chlorine in water as a means to destroy bacteria and other microorganisms. OSU reports as follows:
- Chlorine kills bacteria, including disease-causing organisms and the nuisance organism, iron bacteria. However, low levels of chlorine, normally used to disinfect water, are not an effective treatment for giardia cysts. A chlorine level of over 10 mg/1 must be maintained for at least 30 minutes to kill giardia cysts. -- http://ohioline.osu.edu/b795/index.html is the front page of this bulletin
- "Chemicals and Our Health ", Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times , 16 July 2009, p. 27. This outstanding editorial calls for improvements in public health policy to address phthalates and other environmental contaminants from common chemicals and products in everyday use. - DJ Friedman
- Crystal Clear Supply provides portable ceramic water filter purifiers and portable reverse osmosis water treatment equipment - see http://www.crystalclearsupply.com/category_s/7.htm
- CHLORINE IN DRINKING WATER - Does Chlorine in Drinking Water Harm the Septic Tank? - Septic Tank Cleaning Advice
- CHLORINE IN SEPTIC WASTEWATER - Septic Tank Maintenance: Chlorine in Septic Systems - Septic Tank Maintenance Advice
- Cheating on water tests: Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - make sure your water test is valid
- Chlorinate or Shock a Well, When, How-to - Procedure for Shocking a Well to (temporarily or maybe longer) "Correct" Bacterial Contamination
- Choices of Water Tests & Fees: A Summary of Types of Water Tests, Degrees of Comprehensive Water Testing, Details of Water Test Parameters
- Correcting Unsatisfactory Water what to do, when to do it, treatment alternatives, equipment, filters, etc.
- Disinfectants in water: www.epa.gov/ogwdw/mdbp/pdf/alter/chapt_2.pdf provides an article on use of disinfectants for water treatment
- "Drinking Water Safety in Emergencies", University of Minnesota extension, extension.umn.edu/info-u/nutrition/BJ646.html
- Drinking Water testing, contamination, correction - all topics
- Drinking Water Testing Advice for home buyers home owners home inspectors
- Endocrine Disruptor Exchange , Dr. theo Colborn (also see Our Stolen Future). From that website: The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, Inc. is the only organization that focuses primarily on the human health and environmental problems caused by low-dose and/or ambient exposure to chemicals that interfere with development and function, called endocrine disruptors. ... TEDX's work focuses on the endocrine system, which is the exquisitely balanced system of glands and hormones that regulates such vital functions as body growth, response to stress, sexual development and behavior, production and utilization of insulin, rate of metabolism, intelligence and behavior. Hormones are chemicals such as insulin, thyroxin, estrogen, and testosterone that interact with specific target cells. The interactions occur through a number of mechanisms, the easiest of which to conceptualize is through a lock and key arrangement.
- Giardia exposure limits for drinking water: see www.mass.gov/dep/water/drinking/standards/giardia.htm is the current regulatory exposure limit (your minimum target for sterilization)
- Health Effects of Chemical Contaminants in Drinking Water, US Environmental Protection Agency,
- Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?--A Scientific Detective Story, Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, John Peter Meyers. Plume-Penguin Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0-452-27414-1., ISBN13: 9780452274143. This book is a seminal work on endocrine disruptors (chemical contaminants having impact at extremely low levels in the environment).
Recommended by Daniel Friedman, this book is a critical update to the landmark Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and discusses the effects of minute trace amounts of chemical contaminants in the environment. The text "Identifies the various ways in which chemical pollutants in the environment are disrupting human reproductive patterns and causing such problems as birth defects, sexual abnormalities, and reproductive failure. Reprint. Tour. NYT."
Amazon.com Review: By O T (Ontario, BC) - 'Our Stolen Future' is a great introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries in our time. Having recently completed a thesis project at university on Endocrine Disruptors, I have reviewed hundreds of papers on the subject. This book is a good clear overview of the scientific literature on EDs. The authors are experts - Theo Colborn is largely responsible for creating the field by bringing together diverse researchers so they could see the big picture of their work. Many of the principle investigators are interviewed and quoted at length on the way chemicals participate in and interfere with delicate hormonal systems in animals (including humans). The major accomplishment of the book is to make an easy-to-follow story out of complex research. Many resources are available to help you assess the reliability of this story, and the best thing to do if you have any doubts is read review articles in scientific journals (which are easier to understand than technical papers). The Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) have a guidebook for health-care professionals on Endocrine Disruptors, and the US EPA has many reports on the matter. Beware of people or websites who try to 'debunk' this book (or the science behind it) by simply declaring it false, flawed or disproven. There is far too much supporting research for so simple a refutation.
OPINION: Significant and discussed in this book is the observation that at certain critical points in the development of animals, presumably including humans, exposure to extremely low levels of endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDC's) (such as BPA - Bisphenol-A or BPA, Diethylstilbestrol - DES , dioxins, PCBs, and chemicals used in the production of certain cleansers, dyes, flame retardants, plastics, pesticides, white papers ) perhaps just a few molecules, or in the parts per trillion, is sufficient to cause disruption of the animal's development, including proper sex differentiation, or the lack of it that produced androgynous ducks unable to reproduce under such conditions.
A endocrine disruptor is a synthetic chemical compound that mimics natural hormones when it is taken into the body of a human or other animal. It "disrupts" the endocrine system by turning on or off normal chemical signals that in turn can affect normal hormone levels, bodily functions, and significantly, the development of embryos. Further, unlike naturally occurring hormones ingested, for example from plants (phytoestrogens), synthetically-generated hormones accumulate in the body and can have a half-life of decades or longer.
One significance of this finding includes the observation that an important medical effect that occurs with exposure to chemicals in extremely low concentrations means that experiments to test for correlations between chemical exposure and subsequent serious medical problems will be deeply flawed if, for example, the experimental design does not include testing for the presence of the chemical at extremely low levels. A related concern is that even if harmful effects from exposure to extremely low concentrations of an endocrine disruptor are occurring, teasing out and proving that relationship can be also extremely difficult. - Silent Spring, Rachael Carson, Mariner Books; Anv edition (October 22, 2002), ISBN-13: 978-061824906.
Amazon.com Review: Silent Spring, released in 1962, offered the first shattering look at widespread ecological degradation and touched off an environmental awareness that still exists. Rachel Carson's book focused on the poisons from insecticides, weed killers, and other common products as well as the use of sprays in agriculture, a practice that led to dangerous chemicals to the food source. Carson argued that those chemicals were more dangerous than radiation and that for the first time in history, humans were exposed to chemicals that stayed in their systems from birth to death. Presented with thorough documentation, the book opened more than a few eyes about the dangers of the modern world and stands today as a landmark work. - US EPA : list of drinking water contaminants: see http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html
- In addition to citations & references found in this article, see the research citations given at the end of the related articles found at our suggested
CONTINUE READING or RECOMMENDED ARTICLES.
- Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. Tel: (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 Email: info@carsondunlop.com. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The HOME REFERENCE BOOK - the Encyclopedia of Homes and to use illustrations from The ILLUSTRATED HOME .
Carson Dunlop Associates provides extensive home inspection education and report writing material. In gratitude we provide links to tsome Carson Dunlop Associates products and services.
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