Narrow pH Range of Surface Water Bodies Receiving Pesticide Input in Europe

Abstract

Fate and toxicity of the active ingredients (AI's) of plant protection products in surface waters is often influenced by pH. Although a general range of pH values is reported in literature, an evaluation targeting aquatic ecosystems with documented AI inputs is lacking at the larger scale. Results show 95 % of European surface waters (n = 3075) with a documented history of AI exposure fall within a rather narrow pH range, between 7.0 and 8.5. Spatial and temporal variability in the data may at least be partly explained by the calcareous characteristics of parental rock material, the affiliation of the sampling site to a freshwater ecoregion, and the photosynthetic activity of macrophytes (i.e., higher pH values with photosynthesis). Nonetheless, the documented pH range fits well with the standard pH of most ecotoxicological test guidelines, confirming the fate and ecotoxicity of AIs are usually adequately addressed.

Keywords

pH; Surface water; Risk assessment; Pesticide; Fate

Published in

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
2016, volume: 96, number: 1, pages: 3-8
Publisher: SPRINGER

SLU Authors

• Bundschuh, Mirco

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Koblenz-Landau

Associated SLU-program

SLU Plant Protection Network

Global goals (SDG)

SDG6 Clean water and sanitation
SDG14 Life below water

UKÄ Subject classification

Other Natural Sciences

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1665-7

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/80861