Acrylamide Monomer Leaching from Polyacrylamide-Treated Irrigation Furrows
2008
Lentz, R. D. | Andrawes, F. F. | Barvenik, F. W. | Koehn, A. C.
Water-soluble anionic polyacrylamide (WSPAM), which is used to reduce erosion in furrow irrigated fields and other agriculture applications, contains less than 0.05% acrylamide monomer (AMD). Acrylamide monomer, a potent neurotoxicant and suspected carcinogen, is readily dissolved and transported in flowing water. The study quantified AMD leaching losses from a WSPAM-treated corn (Zea mays L.) field using continuous extraction-walled percolation samplers buried at 1.2 m depth. The samplers were placed 30 and 150 m from the inflow source along a 180-m-long corn field. The field was furrow irrigated using WSPAM at the rate of 10 mg L⁻¹ during furrow advance. Percolation water and furrow inflows were monitored for AMD during and after three furrow irrigations. The samples were analyzed for AMD using a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron-capture detector. Furrow inflows contained an average AMD concentration of 5.5 μg L⁻¹ The AMD in percolation water samples never exceeded the minimum detection limit and the de facto potable water standard of 0.5 μg L⁻¹ The risk that ground water beneath these WSPAM-treated furrow irrigated soils will be contaminated with AMD appears minimal.
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