Avaliação do risco de contaminação de águas superficiais e subterrâneas por agrotóxicos no Brasil, através dos métodos de Gus e de Leach

Abstract

The urbanization process and population growth favored the uncontrolled use of pesticides to increase agricultural production, which is a worrying factor when it comes to the contamination of surface and groundwater. In view of the high cost and complexity of the analyzes for monitoring the quality of these waters, it is necessary to use alternative methods to analyze the potential for contamination of pesticides. The aim of the present study was to assess the risk of water contamination for the 24 best-selling crop protection products in Brazil. For that, two numerical indexes were used, GUS and LEACH, and the physicalchemical properties of the pesticides under study. Thus, 18 pesticides were obtained with a potential risk of contamination of surface and groundwater, of which ten (2 picloram, atrazine, metribuzim, 2,4-D, diuron, ametrine, carbendazim, glyphosate, acephate and paraquat dichloride) have maximum concentration limits in water established by law. Pesticides classified as having high potential for contamination (picloram, tebutiuron, imidacloprido, atrazine and thiophanate-methyl) deserve attention, as well as the glyphosate, which, despite presenting a medium risk, is responsible for 44.95% of total sales in the period.