4.7 Article

Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of contaminants in agricultural watersheds with implications for land management

Journal

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 774, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145687

Keywords

Best management practices; Herbicide; Phytoestrogen; Estrogenicity; Conservation; Chesapeake Bay watershed

Funding

  1. U.S. Geological Survey's Ecosystem Mission Area through the Environmental Health Programs (Contaminants Biology and Toxic Substances Hydrology)
  2. Environments Program (Chesapeake Bay Priority Ecosystems Science)

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The study aimed to investigate the effects of land management actions on contaminant mixtures and water quality in agricultural watersheds, finding that BMPs have potential benefits in reducing contaminant concentrations. Contaminant concentrations were often influenced by seasonal stream flow, but were also affected by other landscape variables and BMP intensity.
If not managed properly, modern agricultural practices can alter surface and groundwater quality and drinking water resources resulting in potential negative effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Exposure to agriculturally derived contaminant mixtures has the potential to alter habitat quality and negatively affect fish and other aquatic organisms. Implementation of conservation practices focused on improving water quality continues to increase particularly in agricultural landscapes throughout the United States. The goal of this study was to determine the consequences of land management actions on the primary drivers of contaminant mixtures in five agricultural watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay, the largest watershed of the Atlantic Seaboard in North America where fish health issues have been documented for two decades. Surface water was collected and analyzed for 301 organic contaminants to determine the benefits of implemented best management practices (BMPs) designed to reduce nutrients and sediment to streams in also reducing contaminants in surface waters. Of the contaminants measured, herbicides (atrazine, metolachlor), phytoestrogens (formononetin, genistein, equol), cholesterol and total estrogenicity (indicator of estrogenic response) were detected frequently enough to statistically compare to seasonal flow effects, landscape variables and BMP intensity. Contaminant concentrations were often positively correlated with seasonal stream flow, although the magnitude of this effect varied by contaminant across seasons and sites. Land-use and other less utilized landscape variables including biosolids, manure and pesticide application and percent phytoestrogen producing crops were inversely related with site average contaminant concentrations. Increased BMP intensity was negatively related to contaminant concentrations indicating potential co-benefits of BMPs for contaminant reduction in the studied watersheds. The information gained from this study will help prioritize ecologically relevant contaminant mixtures for monitoring and contributes to understanding the benefits of BMPs on improving surface water quality to better manage living resources in agricultural landscapes inside and outside the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available