Pesticides and Pesticide Degradates

About the Research The Environmental Chemistry Laboratory Core Technology Team (CTT) as part of the Environmental Health Program develops and applies innovative methods of sampling and analysis to answer critical questions about the occurrence, distribution, fate and transport, and biological exposure of chemical in all environmental matrices (water, air, tissues, sediments, and others).

The Fishing, Hunting, and Subsistence Living Integrated Science Team focuses on contaminant and pathogen exposures in the environment that could impact the presence and vitality of fish and wildlife populations that drive commercial, recreational and subsistence activities such as hunting and fishing. If actual risks are identified this project will inform how to economically and effectively...

Neonicotinoids were not detected in native prairie plants placed next to agricultural fields several years after discontinuation of neonicotinoid seed treatment. In addition, neonicotinoid concentrations were lower or absent in soils and runoff at sites with the native prairie strips.

First-ever reconnaissance study documents the off-field transport of nitrapyrin — a nitrification inhibitor applied with fertilizers as a bactericide to kill natural soil bacteria for the purpose of increasing crop yields — to adjacent streams. This study is the first step in understanding the transport, occurrence, and potential effects of nitrapyrin or similar compounds on nitrogen processing in...

A recent reconnaissance study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) demonstrates the first observed occurrence of pesticides, including neonicotinoid insecticides, in wild-caught native bees. The results indicate that native bees collected in an agricultural landscape are exposed to multiple pesticides including insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. This reconnaissance study is the first step...

Neonicotinoid insecticides (neonicotinoids) were present in a little more than half of the streams sampled across the United States and Puerto Rico, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study. This is the first national-scale study of the presence of neonicotinoids in urban and agricultural land use settings across the Nation and was completed as part of ongoing USGS investigations of...

In a recent inter–laboratory comparison of 28 international laboratories, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory (OGRL) scored A's for the analysis of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in this proficiency testing.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Dr. Michael T. Meyer has had a prolific career, publishing 60 journal articles and 45 USGS publications. Mike's publication record has recently led to his designation as a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher, ranking among the top 1 percent of researchers from 2002 to 2012 for most cited documents in their specific field (Environment/Ecology). He was...

Three neonicotinoid insecticides (clothianidin, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid) were detected commonly throughout the growing season in water samples collected from nine Midwestern stream sites during the 2013 growing season according to a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists. Clothianidin was detected most frequently (75 percent) and at the highest maximum concentration (257 nanograms...

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists report that glyphosate, known commercially by many trade names, and its degradation product AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic acid) are transported off-site from agricultural and urban sources and occur widely in the environment. This study is the largest and most comprehensive assessment of the environmental occurrence of glyphosate and AMPA in the United States...

POEA (polyoxyethylene tallow amine) is a surfactant with known toxic effects on aquatic organisms. POEA was added to the original formulation of the herbicide glyphosate to aid in its application and effectiveness at controlling weeds. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists developing methods to measure POEA in the environment have shown that it’s a complex and variable mixture of related...

Pesticides were observed frequently in water, sediment, and the tissue of resident aquatic organisms from an agriculturally dominated estuary along the central California coast according to a collaborative study by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and University of California, Davis scientists published in Marine Pollution Bulletin.