Diazinon in surface waters before and after a federally-mandated ban

Samples collected from rural and urban streams in the City of Denton, Texas, USA were analyzed for the organophosphorus pesticide diazinon during the years preceding and following a United States Environmental Protection Agency ban on many diazinon uses. A network of 70 monitoring stations, based mainly on topography and hydrological considerations, were established within the three main watersheds of Denton. Monitoring stations were sampled monthly from March through August during periods of normal flow (baseflow), resulting in a total of 1243 samples collected during the years of 2001–2004. Pesticide concentrations were determined using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) specific for diazinon. Results from this temporally and spatially dense monitoring effort illustrated the impacts of a decrease in diazinon production during 2002, followed by a ban on most outdoor, non-agricultural diazinon retail sales imposed during 2003. The total number of samples exhibiting diazinon concentrations above the lower limits of detection (LLD) significantly decreased between 2001 through 2004 (Mantel–Haenszel Chi-Square test, pb0.0001, n=1243) and decreased significantly during the four monitoring years (Cochran–Armitage Trend test, z= 17.94, pb0.0001, n=1243). The total number of stations exhibiting at least one sample above the LLD during the four monitoring years showed similar patterns (Mantel–Haenszel Chi-Square test, pb0.0001; Cochran–Armitage Trend test, z= 3.21, p=0.0007; n=276). Results indicate that the phased reduction of outdoor, non-agricultural diazinon uses led to a highly significant decrease in surface water occurrences of this pesticide.