A simple and flexible silicone-based passive integrative sampler to study pesticide transfer in small watersheds

Abstract

Small agricultural watersheds are submitted to high pesticide contamination pressures. Reliable assessments of contamination in aquatic environments or measurements of the performance of locally implemented action plans require sampling methodologies adapted to the characteristics of each aquatic environment. To meet these requirements, we are developing a new silicone-based composite passive integrative sampler (Polar Silicone Rod, PSR) for the detection and quantification of a wide range of pesticides in water. Examples of applications of this tool are presented to assess the fate of pesticides at the outlet of agricultural plots, to understand the functioning of an artificial wetland buffer zone or to improve knowledge of the effects of pesticides in watercourses. Three levels of interpretation, more or less complex, can be implemented to exploit the results: from the detection of the presence of a substance to the determination of the average concentration in the water over the deployment period of the tool of one to two weeks.