Is water-soluble atrazine leaking into groundwater?

摘要

AUSTRALIAN graingrowers each apply around 20,000 dollar worth of chemicals per year to crops and pastures for pest and disease control. In WA, where fragile soils are 'scared' of scarifying and no-tillage systems dominate, growers rely more heavily onchemical weed control and so double the national average expenditure, while maintaining a great interest in cheaper treatments. However, the focus on affordable soil conservation must be reconciled with general environmental conservation, such as responsible residue management, to maintain Australia's clean and green image. Quick draining WA sands are famous for relinquishing water and nutrients and do the same with chemical residues, which can pass into underlying water tables that sometimes empty into wetlands. This has prompted the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) to support an examination of application strategies for triazines, which underpin popular triazine tolerant (TT) canola production systems.