title: Monitoring of triazine and phenylurea herbicides in the surface waters of Greece.
abstract: A large-scale study was implemented to monitor triazine and phenylurea herbicides in the main surface water bodies of continental Greece from October 1998 to September 1999. Samples from 10 rivers and 7 lakes were analyzed for the presence of five triazine (atrazine, cyanazine, prometryne, simazine, terbuthylazine) and five phenylurea (chlorotoluron, diuron, linuron, metobromuron, monolinuron) herbicides. The samples were extracted with C18 cartridges and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The most frequently detected herbicides were atrazine, followed by prometryne, cyanazine, and simazine. The concentrations of the compounds were generally low (< 0.78 micro g/L) and are not considered harmful for the freshwater ecosystem. Most of the positive samples were taken from the water bodies of northern Greece where agricultural activity is more intense.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Studies, Water and Air Quality Laboratory, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kotrikla
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gatidou
authors.forename: Themistocles D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Lekkas
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000032:analysis; D006115:Greece; D006540:Herbicides / Q000032:analysis*; D010671:Phenylurea Compounds / Q000032:analysis; D014227:Triazines / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D006540:Herbicides; D010671:Phenylurea Compounds; D014227:Triazines; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical