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USGS Fact Sheet 067-97:
Pesticides in Selected Small Streams
in the Puget Sound Basin, 1987-1995


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Studies Reviewed; References

Studies Reviewed

A USEPA inventory in 1988 of contemporary pesticide usage in the Puget Sound Basin (Tetra Tech, 1988) indicates that approximately 2.8 million pounds of pesticides are used annually (a table lists 18 pesticides that are estimated to be applied in amounts greater than 20,000 pounds/year in the basin.) Following this inventory, the USEPA conducted a reconnaissance study of five small streams draining various land uses (PTI Environmental Services, 1991). Since 1992, Ecology has collected water or bed-sediment samples from nine streams. Mayer and Elkins (1990) from Western Washington State University collected samples from small sloughs in agricultural areas in the northern part of the basin. Although these studies varied in design and analytical methods used, the data generally characterize the occurrence of pesticides in small streams in the Puget Sound Basin.

References

1. Canadian Council of Resource and Environment Ministers, 1987,
Canadian water quality guidelines: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Canadian Council of Resource and Environment Ministers, 365 p.

2. Colborn, Theo, Dumanoski, Dianne, and Myers, J.P., 1996,
Our stolen future: New York, Dutton, 306 p.

3. Davis, D.A., 1993,
Washington State pesticide monitoring program--reconnaissance sampling of surface waters (1992): Olympia, Wash., Washington State Department of Ecology, 38 p.

4. Davis, Dale, 1996,
Washington State pesticide monitoring program 1994 surface water sampling report: Olympia, Wash., Washington State Department of Ecology, publication no. 96-305, 19 p.

5. Davis, Dale, 1996,
Washington State Department of Ecology, written communication.

6. Davis, Dale, and Johnson, Art, 1994a,
Washington State pesticide monitoring program reconnaissance sampling of fish tissue and sediments (1992): Olympia, Wash., Washington State Department of Ecology, publication no. 94-194, 33 p.

7. Davis, Dale, and Johnson, Art, 1994b,
Washington State pesticide monitoring program 1993 surface water sampling report: Olympia, Wash., Washington State Department of Ecology, publication no. 94-164, 21 p.

8. Farm Chemicals Handbook, 1994,
Farm Chemicals Handbook: Willoughby, Ohio, Meister Publishing Co., misc. pagination.

9. Mayer, J.R., and Elkins, N.R., 1990,
Potential for agricultural pesticide runoff to a Puget Sound estuary--Padilla Bay, Washington: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, v. 45, p. 215-222.

10. National Academy of Sciences, 1973,
Water quality criteria, 1972, A report of the committee on water quality criteria: Washington, D.C., Environmental Studies Board, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, 594 p.

11. Norris, L. and Dost, F., 1991,
Proposed surface water quality criteria for selected pesticides used for forest management and management of forest tree seedling and christmas tree plantations in Oregon and Washington (draft): Corvallis, Oreg., Oregon State University, 39 p.

12. Nowell, L.H., and Resek, E.A., 1994,
Summary of national standards and guidelines for pesticides in water, bed sediment, and aquatic organisms and their application to water-quality assessments: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-44, 115 p.

13. PTI Environmental Services, 1991,
1990 Puget Sound pesticide reconnaissance survey: Bellevue, Wash., prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10, contract 68D80085, 39 p.

14. State of Washington, 1992,
Water quality standards for surface waters in State of Washington: Olympia, Wash., State of Washington, Chapter 173-201WAC, 14 p.

15. Tetra Tech Incorporated, 1988,
Pesticides of concern in the Puget Sound Basin--a review of contemporary pesticide usage: Seattle, Wash., prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, contract TC3338-32, 97 p.

16. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1986,
Quality criteria for water: Washington, D.C., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Regulations and Standards, unpaginated

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