Occurrence of Atrazine and Related Compounds in Sediments of Upper Great Lakes.
Surface grab and core sediment samples were collected from Lakes Michigan, Superior, and Huron from 2010 to 2012, and concentrations of herbicides atrazine, simazine, and alachlor, as well as desethylatrazine (DEA), were determined. Concentrations of atrazine in surface grabs ranged from 0.01 to 1.7 ng/g dry weight and are significantly higher in the southern basin of Lake Michigan (latitude <44°) than other parts of the three lakes. The highest concentration of alachlor was found in sediments of Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron. The inventory and net fluxes of these herbicides were found to decline exponentially from the south to the north. The concentration ratio of DEA to atrazine (DEA/ATZ) increased with latitude, suggesting degradation of atrazine to DEA during atmospheric transport. DEA/ATZ also increased with sediment depth in the sediment cores. Diffusion of deposited herbicides from the upper sediment into deeper sediments has occurred, on the basis of the observed patterns of concentrations in dated sediment cores. Concentrations of atrazine in pore water were estimated and were higher than those reported for the bulk waters, suggesting the occurrence of solid-phase deposition of atrazine through the water column and that contaminated sediments act as a source releasing atrazine to the overlying water.
School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60612, United States.
Jiehong
J
Guo
School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60612, United States.
Zhuona
Z
Li
School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60612, United States.
Prabha
P
Ranasinghe
Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States.
Solidea
S
Bonina
Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States.
Soheil
S
Hosseini
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States.
Margaret B
MB
Corcoran
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States.
Colin
C
Smalley
Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States.
Rajashankar
R
Kaliappan
Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University , Carbondale, Illinois 62901, United States.
Yan
Y
Wu
Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University , Carbondale, Illinois 62901, United States.
Da
D
Chen
School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60612, United States.
Andy L
AL
Sandy
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100085, China.
Yawei
Y
Wang
Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States.
Karl J
KJ
Rockne
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States.
Neil C
NC
Sturchio
Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan , Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B3, Canada.
John P
JP
Giesy
School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60612, United States.
An
A
Li
D001280:Atrazine; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D006540:Herbicides; D060106:Lakes; D008824:Michigan; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
D006540:Herbicides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001280:Atrazine