Pesticide contamination of German small water bodies: a status report

Pesticides are transported from agricultural fields into surface and groundwater bodies and can harm associated ecosystems. In particular, the ecological and hydrological functions of many small water bodies are endangered due to their large contact area with agricultural fields. In this review, data on pesticide concentrations in small German water bodies have been collected to assess current risk. The database consists of 53,762 datasets from 765 water samples. The database is very heterogeneous, reflecting variable sampling regimes and the amount and types of pesticide used. Furthermore, the studies are clustered in selected regions and are not comprehensive across Germany. Data analysis reveals that most concentrations are < 0.05 mu g L-1. However, concentrations up to 130 mu g L-1 are also reported. More than 55% of all samples contain multiple-pesticide contaminations with up to 36 pesticide detections per sample. Environmental quality standards are exceeded in 274 concentrations. Among the 15 most frequently detected pesticides, five pesticide transformation products are found. Data for small standing water bodies represent just 1 % of the total database. Since the database is not representative, further analyses were not carried out.