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U.S. Geological Circular 1225--The Quality of Our Nation's Waters--Nutrients and Pesticides

The most frequently detected pesticides are those most heavily used... now or in the past

Not surprisingly, the top 15 pesticide compounds found in water are among those with the highest current use. They include five of the most heavily used agricultural herbicides and one degradation product, five herbicides that are exensively used in urban areas, and four of the most commonly used insecticides.

The pesticide compounds found most often in fish and bed sediment are related to three major groups of insecticides that were heavily used in the 1960s. Organochlorine compounds related to DDT and dieldrin were widely used in both agricultural and urban areas, and chlordane was mainly used in urban areas.

 

PESTICIDE DETECTIONS

Pesticide detections
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