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Surface and ground waters Vineyards s u m m a r y A multi-residual analytical method based on solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was developed to monitor pesticides in natural waters. Fifty-eight compounds, including herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and some of their degradation products, were surveyed to evaluate the quality of natural waters throughout the winegrowing region of La Rioja (Rioja DOCa). Ninety-two sampling points were selected, including surface and ground waters that could be affected by agricultural activities covering the region's three sub-areas. Different parameters that may affect the efficiency of the SPE procedure were optimised (sorbent type, elution solvent and sample volume), and matrix-matched standards were used to eliminate the variable matrix effect and ensure good quantification. The developed method allows the determination of target compounds below the level established by the European Union for waters for human use with suitable precision (relative standard deviations lower than 18%) and accuracy (with recoveries over 61%). Forty compounds included in this study (six insecticides, 12 herbicides, 16 fungicides and six degradation products) were detected in one or more samples. The herbicides terbuthylazine, its metabolite desethyl terbuthylazine, fluometuron and ethofumesate and the fungicides pyrimethanil and tebuconazole were the compounds most frequently detected in water samples (present in more than 60% of the samples). Concentrations above 0.1 lg L À1 were detected for 37 of the compounds studied, and in several cases recorded values of over 18 lg L À1 . The results reveal the presence of pesticides in most of the samples investigated. In 64% of groundwaters and 62% of surface waters, the sum of compounds detected was higher than 0.5 lg L À1 (the limit established by EU legislation for the sum of all pesticides detected in waters for human use).

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Adsorption and mobility of the herbicide linuron (3-3, 4-dichlorophenyl-1-methoxy-1-methylurea) in 35 irrigated soils with organic matter (OM) contents in the 0.43-2.59% range and in four natural soils with OM contents in the 4.16-11.69% range were studied using the batch equilibration technique. The adsorption isotherms were found to conform to the Freundlich adsorption equation. The Freundlich constant, K, and the distribution coefficient, K(d), were seen to be highly significantly correlated (p < 0.001) with the OM content when all soils or only those with an OM content above 2% were considered. There was also a significant correlation of K and K(d) with the OM content (p < 0.05) and of K(d) with the clay and silt plus clay contents (p < 0.1) when the soils with a OM content below 2% were considered. On the basis of the R(f)() values obtained by soil TLC, the pesticide was found to be slightly mobile in 77% and moderately mobile in 23% of the soils studied. The results of the leaching of linuron in soil columns unmodified and modified with two organic agricultural amendments, a city refuse compost, and two surfactants (one of them cationic and the other anionic) revealed that the leaching rate and the mass transfer of the herbicide to water were affected, increasing or decreasing according to the characteristics of the amendments and the doses added. These results also point to the usefulness of selected organic materials and surfactants in the development of physicochemical methods for preventing the pollution of soils, sediments and aquifers by hydrophobic pesticides.

The effect of the addition of fresh and composted spent mushroom substrates (F-SMS and C-SMS) to vineyard soils on the adsorption-desorption of penconazole and metalaxyl was studied under laboratory conditions. SMS is a promising agricultural residue as an amendment to increase the soil organic matter (OM) content. It may also modify the behavior of fungicides applied to vineyards. Freundlich Kf adsorption constants of both fungicides by soils and subsoils from three experimental plots unamended and amended in the field ranged between 2.78 and 13.4 (penconazole) and 0.14 and 0.67 (metalaxyl) with scant differences for unamended soil and subsoil. However, Kf values of amended soils were higher than those corresponding to subsoils and generally higher than those of unamended soils (up to 2.3 times for penconazole and 1.3 times for metalaxyl). The influence of SMS treatment (fresh or composted) was observed in the adsorption of the most hydrophobic fungicide penconazole. Simple and multiple correlations between soil and subsoil properties and adsorption constants indicated the influence of the OM on the adsorption of both fungicides, together with the clay, silt, and CaCO(3) content for metalaxyl and the pH for penconazole. The results revealed changes in the adsorption-desorption processes of these fungicides, which could give rise to a decrease in the mobility of metalaxyl (highly water-soluble) and an increase in the retention of penconazole (more hydrophobic). These effects could have an impact on surface and/or groundwater contamination.

Pesticides are needed to maintain high production in the vineyard area of La Rioja (Spain), and monitoring their spatial distribution is a priority for preserving the quality of natural resources. Accordingly, the purpose of this work was to conduct a study to evaluate the presence and seasonal distribution of herbicide and insecticide residues in ground and surface waters in this region. The monitoring network comprised 12 surface waters and 78 groundwaters, covering the three subareas (63,593ha) into which the vineyard region is divided. The quality of natural waters was examined through the analysis of twenty-two herbicides, eight of their main degradation products, and eight insecticides. Pesticides were extracted by solid-phase extraction, and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry or by liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results reveal the presence of most of the herbicides and insecticides included in the study in one or more of the samples collected during the four campaigns. The herbicide terbuthylazine and its metabolite desethylterbuthylazine were the compounds more frequently detected (present in >65% of the samples across all the campaigns). Other compounds detected in >50% of the samples in one sampling campaign were the herbicides fluometuron, metolachlor, alachlor and ethofumesate. Insecticides were present in a small number of samples, with only pirimicarb being detected in >25% of the samples in March and June campaigns. The results reveal that the sum of compounds detected (mainly herbicides) was higher than 0.5μgL in >50% of the samples, especially in the campaigns with the highest application of these compounds. A possible recovery of the quality of the waters was detected outside the periods of crop cultivation, although more monitoring programmes are needed to confirm this trend with a view to preventing and/or maintaining the sustainability of natural resources.

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