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Low-Level Groundwater Atrazine in High Atrazine Usage Nebraska Counties: Likely Effects of Excessive Groundwater Abstraction New-Aaron, Moses; Abimbola, Olufemi; Mohammadi, Raheleh; Famojuro, Oluwaseun; Naveed, Zaeema; Abadi, Azar; Bell, Jesse E.; Bartelt-Hunt, Shannon; Rogan, Eleanor G.

Abstract

Recent studies observed a correlation between estrogen-related cancers and groundwater atrazine in eastern Nebraska counties. However, the mechanisms of human exposure to atrazine are unclear because low groundwater atrazine concentration was observed in counties with high cancer incidence despite having the highest atrazine usage. We studied groundwater atrazine fate in high atrazine usage Nebraska counties. Data were collected from Quality Assessed Agrichemical Contaminant Nebraska Groundwater, Parameter–Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and water use databases. Descriptive statistics and cluster analysis were performed. Domestic wells (59%) were the predominant well type. Groundwater atrazine was affected by well depth. Clusters consisting of wells with low atrazine were characterized by excessive groundwater abstraction, reduced precipitation, high population, discharge areas, and metropolitan counties. Hence, low groundwater atrazine may be due to excessive groundwater abstraction accompanied by atrazine. Human exposure to atrazine in abstracted groundwater may be higher than the estimated amount in groundwater.

Item Metadata

Title
Low-Level Groundwater Atrazine in High Atrazine Usage Nebraska Counties: Likely Effects of Excessive Groundwater Abstraction
Creator
New-Aaron, Moses; Abimbola, Olufemi; Mohammadi, Raheleh; Famojuro, Oluwaseun; Naveed, Zaeema; Abadi, Azar; Bell, Jesse E.; Bartelt-Hunt, Shannon; Rogan, Eleanor G.
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2021-12-15
Description
Recent studies observed a correlation between estrogen-related cancers and groundwater atrazine in eastern Nebraska counties. However, the mechanisms of human exposure to atrazine are unclear because low groundwater atrazine concentration was observed in counties with high cancer incidence despite having the highest atrazine usage. We studied groundwater atrazine fate in high atrazine usage Nebraska counties. Data were collected from Quality Assessed Agrichemical Contaminant Nebraska Groundwater, Parameter–Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and water use databases. Descriptive statistics and cluster analysis were performed. Domestic wells (59%) were the predominant well type. Groundwater atrazine was affected by well depth. Clusters consisting of wells with low atrazine were characterized by excessive groundwater abstraction, reduced precipitation, high population, discharge areas, and metropolitan counties. Hence, low groundwater atrazine may be due to excessive groundwater abstraction accompanied by atrazine. Human exposure to atrazine in abstracted groundwater may be higher than the estimated amount in groundwater.
Subject
groundwater; atrazine; abstraction; cancers; climate; Nebraska
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2022-01-24
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0406336
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/80711
Affiliation
Medicine, Faculty of; Non UBC; Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of
Citation
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18 (24): 13241 (2021)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/ijerph182413241
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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CC BY 4.0