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U.S. Department of Energy
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Dealkylated and hydroxylated metabolites of atrazine in surface and ground water

Conference ·
OSTI ID:126051
;  [1]
  1. Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)
Atrazine is one of the most extensively used herbicides in the central United States. The herbicide and its metabolites are known to persist in surface and ground waters. The dealkylated metabolites of atrazine were determined in ground water taken from Pleistocene age sand and gravel aquifer located southeast of Grand Island, Nebraska by using gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry, while hydroxyatrazine by fast atom bombartment-high resolution mass spectrometry at ultra-trace level. A high performance liquid chromatography method was developed to analyze run-off surface water for both dealkylated and hydroxylated metabolites. The analytical results were compared to validate the methods. The agreement is within a few percent. The levels of ATR and its metabolites in the ground water samples range from low parts-per-trillion (ppt) to parts-per-billion (ppb). The data indicate that a decrease in concentration levels with depth, and this is in record with the hypothesis that the deeper water is older. The results provide valuable information for the study of environmental kinetics of the degradation of atrazine.
OSTI ID:
126051
Report Number(s):
CONF-950402--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English