Revista Águas Subterrâneas (Jan 2019)
Comparison between leaching potential indexes for agrochemicals used in the Natuba Sub Basin, Vitória de Santo Antão-Pernambuco
Abstract
Environmental contamination by pesticides has been increasingly addressed by authors in the literature and by the civil media, due to their external responsibility. This study aimed to reduce the leaching and contamination potential of the main pesticides that are detectable in the Natuba river sub basin, in the city of Vitória de Santo Antão-Pernambuco. To do so, indexes that are proposed to measure the level of an environmental capacity of a system to leach or be transported to the environment were used, namely: Groundwater Screening Index (GSI), Groundwater Ubiquity Score (GUS), Relative Potential Leaching Index (RLPI), Leaching IndeX (LIX), Leaching Index (LEACH) and California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) criteria. The data of the GSI, GUS, LIX, LEACH and RLPI indexes demonstrated the levels of analysis by variances, that is, each index, in its scale of values, the same propensity to leach the pesticide. Thus, when compared with agrochemicals, the environmental risk was highlighted: picloram, hexazinone, chlorantraniliprole, carbofuran, thiamethoxam, 2,4 D dimethylamine salt, imidacloprid, azoxystrobin, cartape, paraquat dichloride. Thus, the use of assets should be avoided and replaced with other ones with less leaching potential, aiming at the protection of the area.
Keywords