Residues of atrazine in agricultural areas of Serbia

Abstract

In this paper the results of a five-year investigation of the pollution of soil, as well as of surface and groundwater by atrazine are reported. The soil samples were collected from different localities, from the tillage level, at two depths (0–15 and 15–30 cm) during the period September-November from 1995 to 1999. The surface and groundwater samples were taken from the same localities during the same period. The residues were detected by the ELISA test. The results showed that almost all the analysed soil samples contained residues of atrazine. These quantities varied from 0.02 to 0.10 mg/kg (0–15 cm), and up to 0.05 mg/kg (15–30 cm) depending on the locality, soil type and the year of investigation. Concerning the residues in the surface and groundwater, it was found that most of the analysed samples contained atrazine residues. In the case of the surface water, the quantity of the residues ranged from 1.0 to 4.13 μg/L whille the ground water contained up to 0.3 μg/L depending on the locality and the year of investigation.

Keywords

• atrazine
• soil
• groundwater
• surface water.