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Updated: May 31, 2026
10:05
Integrated Field Lysimetry and Porewater Sampling for Evaluation of Chemical Mobility in Soils and Established Vegetation
Published on: July 4, 2014
Pesticide processing potential in prairie pothole porewaters.
Teng Zeng1, Kate L Ziegelgruber, Yu-Ping Chin
1Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, 500 Pillsbury Drive Southeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
Environmental Science & Technology
|July 15, 2011
Summary
Reduced sulfur compounds in prairie pothole lake sediment porewaters transform pesticides. This study shows abiotic reactions with sulfur species are a key pesticide removal pathway in these vital North American wetlands.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Chemistry
- Aquatic Ecology
- Agricultural Science
Background:
- Prairie pothole lakes (PPLs) face pesticide pollution from agricultural runoff.
- The environmental fate of pesticides in PPLs is poorly understood.
- Pesticides can impact the ecological health of these important wetlands.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the transformation pathways of chloroacetanilide pesticides in PPL sediment porewaters.
- To identify the role of reduced sulfur species in pesticide degradation.
- To understand the environmental fate of agricultural contaminants in PPL ecosystems.
Main Methods:
- Sampling of two PPLs in North Dakota.
- Analysis of pesticide transformations in sediment porewater.
- Identification of reduced sulfur species (bisulfide, polysulfides) and their reactivity.
Main Results:
- Reduced sulfur species, including bisulfide (HS(-)) and polysulfides (S(n)(2-)), readily transformed four chloroacetanilide pesticides.
- Sulfur-substituted products were formed from the degradation of target pesticides.
- Abiotic reactions with reduced sulfur compounds were identified as a significant factor in pesticide removal.
Conclusions:
- Abiotic reactions with reduced sulfur species represent a major removal mechanism for pesticides in PPLs.
- Understanding these transformations is crucial for assessing pesticide risk in agricultural wetlands.
- This research contributes to the knowledge of pesticide environmental fate in freshwater ecosystems.
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