Pesticide Concentrations in Drinking Water from Farm Homes： Variation between Community Water Supply and Well-Water

Atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the United States, has been found to contaminate groundwater. Atrazine is an endocrine disrupter in animals, and could possibly have carcinogenic effects in humans. A study involving farm families in four Kentucky Counties has been designed to assess exposure to atrazine through drinking water by a quick, reliable, and effective assay that could be performed in non-specialized laboratories. Data were obtained on farming practices and pesticide applications; and drinking water samples were collected from each household. Water consumption for the participants showed that 72% of the households consumed municipal water, 24% had private wells, and 4% used spring water as their source of drinking water. The analytical method used was based on Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay. The results were obtained using a magnetic-particle-based analysis with spectrophotometric reading and showed presence of atrazine in more than 90% of the samples. Results showed that community drinking water sources had significantly higher atrazine concentrations compared to non-community sources （p-value 〈 0.01）. The results of this study may be used to conduct further exposure assessments for drinking water protection from pesticide contamination.