title: Atrazine contamination in agricultural soils from the Yangtze River Delta of China and associated health risks.
abstract: Atrazine is one of the most widely applied and persistent herbicides in the world. In view of limited information on the regional contamination of atrazine in soils in China, this study investigated the spatial distribution and environmental impacts of atrazine in agricultural soils collected from the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) as an illustrative analysis of rapidly developing regions in the country. The results showed that the concentrations of atrazine in the YRD agricultural soils ranged from <1.0 to 113 ng/g dry weight, with a mean of 5.7 ng/g, and a detection rate of 57.7 % in soils. Pesticide factory might be a major source for the elevated levels of atrazine in Zhejiang Province. The contamination of atrazine was closely associated with land use types. The concentrations and detection rates of atrazine were higher in corn fields and mulberry fields than in rice paddy fields. There was no significant difference in compositions of soil microbial phospholipids fatty acids among the areas with different atrazine levels. Positive relationship (R = 0.417, p < 0.05, n = 30) was observed between atrazine and total microbial biomass. However, other factors, such as soil type and land management practice, might have stronger influences on soil microbial communities. Human health risks via exposure to atrazine in soils were estimated according to the methods recommended by the US EPA. Atrazine by itself in all the soil samples imposed very low carcinogenic risks (<10-6) and minimal non-cancer risks (hazard index <1) to adults and children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.|Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Daniel C W
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China. zlz@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: L Z
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. cexdli@polyu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: X D
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D001280:Atrazine / Q000032:analysis*; D002681:China; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D006540:Herbicides / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D006540:Herbicides; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D001280:Atrazine
keywords: Farmlands; Herbicide; Microbial communities; Regional survey; Risks; Spatial distribution