Occurrence of chlorpyrifos in the atmosphere of the Araucanía Region in Chile using polyurethane foam-based passive air samplers

Abstract

Little is known regarding the use and ambient levels of pesticides in Chilean agricultural regions.Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is one of the most used active ingredients in Chile and in the world. However, fewinvestigations have been conducted to understand its environmental distribution and fate. In this study,PUF disk passive air samples were deployed during ~one year in two areas, Angol (5 sites) and Villarrica(2 sites), in the Araucanía Region. The concentration in air of CPF ranged from ten to thousands of pg m3(~20e14 600). The highest CPF concentrations were detected at the Angol sites (~14 600 pg m3) duringperiod 2 (AugusteDecember 2008). These results were higher by a factor of ~10e15 than those detectedin Villarica sites (~2000 pg m3) in period 1 (AprileJuly 2008). Seasonal CPF variations were observed, atboth sites, within the sampling periods. Air back trajectory analyses showed that air masses from nearbyagricultural zones contributed most of the CPF detected in Angol sites when the wind speed was low andat Villarrica when those sources were likely located north of the VMA site. These results provide initialdata for CPF in the Chilean atmosphere and contribute new information to understanding distribution ofCPF in Chilean environments.