Investigation of the Chemistry of Degradation of Pesticides and Other Serious Organic Contaminants in Drinking Water for Application to Domestic and Community Water Supplies

摘要

The systemic pesticide, Temik, has leached to ground water in Suffolk County on eastern Long Island. Its active ingredient, Aldicarb, leaches through certain soils into ground water after systemic application; this has created serious problems with drinking water on Long Island and in other parts of the country. A novel approach to treating carbamate contaminated drinking water has been investigated and found to be successful on the laboratory scale. Base and acid hydrolysis degradation rates for Aldicarb/metabolites in solution under a variety of conditions have been determined. A systematic correlation of batch contact data with column and fundamental solution data is currently under investigation. Analytical methods for detection and quantification of the Aldicarb species have also been developed and refined. HPLC using a UV detector, a reverse phase column, and methanol/water as the mobile phase has been combined with simple preconcentration procedures to give a rapid and reliable 'flow through' technique which does not require bulk extraction or cleanup of water samples. A new gas chromatographic method has been perfected for quantification of solutions at the ppb level.