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Acrylamide Monomer Leaching from Polyacrylamide‐Treated Irrigation Furrows
Author(s) -
Lentz R. D.,
Andrawes F. F.,
Barvenik F. W.,
Koehn A. C.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2007.0574
Subject(s) - leaching (pedology) , surface irrigation , irrigation , polyacrylamide , detection limit , environmental science , soil water , chemistry , environmental chemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , agronomy , soil science , chromatography , geology , geotechnical engineering , biology , polymer chemistry
Water‐soluble anionic polyacrylamide (WSPAM), which is used to reduce erosion in furrow irrigated fields and other agriculture applications, contains less than 0.05% acrylamide monomer (AMD). Acrylamide monomer, a potent neurotoxicant and suspected carcinogen, is readily dissolved and transported in flowing water. The study quantified AMD leaching losses from a WSPAM‐treated corn ( Zea mays L.) field using continuous extraction‐walled percolation samplers buried at 1.2 m depth. The samplers were placed 30 and 150 m from the inflow source along a 180‐m‐long corn field. The field was furrow irrigated using WSPAM at the rate of 10 mg L −1 during furrow advance. Percolation water and furrow inflows were monitored for AMD during and after three furrow irrigations. The samples were analyzed for AMD using a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron‐capture detector. Furrow inflows contained an average AMD concentration of 5.5 μg L −1 The AMD in percolation water samples never exceeded the minimum detection limit and the de facto potable water standard of 0.5 μg L −1 The risk that ground water beneath these WSPAM‐treated furrow irrigated soils will be contaminated with AMD appears minimal.