LEACHING OF ATRAZINE INTO GROUND-WATER

A study of the leaching of atrazine from soils in Denmark with high hydraulic conductivity demonstrated only small quantities of the herbicide in the upper ground-water zone. The atrazine-treated fields were situated in a region where the water table was high and free lying and where the cover layer consisted of sand. Samples were taken from the upper 1.5 m ground-water zone at three well-defined levels. The atrazine content was between 0.01 and 0.05-mu-g litre-1 the highest concentrations being found at the top of the ground-water zone.