Abstract
The use of Cu-based fungicide can pose a risk to nearby surface water bodies due to the run-off of accumulated Cu from agricultural soils. In 2008, we conducted a reconnaissance survey of the presence and concentration of copper in sediments at 18 sites within the Yarra River Catchment, an important horticultural production system in south-eastern Australia. Observed Cu concentrations in sediment samples from the study sites (mean (95 % confidence interval) 12.0 (10.6–13.6) mg/kg dry weight) were similar to the concentrations present in the samples from the reference sites (mean (95 % confidence interval) 12.0 (6.7–16.8) mg/kg dry weight). The data on Cu and other metals in the sediments suggest that that there is unlikely to have been wide spread, diffuse, off-site transport of Cu from the soils of horticultural properties to nearby surface waterways in the Yarra River Catchment and that that observed sediment metal concentrations are unlikely to pose an ecological risk to sediment-dwelling organisms at the study sites.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by Melbourne Water, the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, Australia (DPI) Future Farming Systems Research Key Project FF104 Accountable Agriculture (projects 103371, 100704 and 104049), the Co-operative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE) and the Centre for Aquatic Pollution, Identification and Management (CAPIM). CAPIM is funded by the Victoria’s Science Agenda Investment Fund managed by the Department of Business and Innovation (DBI) (www.innovation.vic.gov.au) with partner funding contributed from Melbourne Water, the Department of Primary Industries (Victoria) and the Environment Protection Authority (Victoria). We also acknowledge Steve Marshall and other staff from The University of Melbourne for their help with field sampling.
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Guest Editors: R Naidu, Euan Smith, MH Wong, Megharaj Mallavarapu, Nanthi Bolan, Albert Juhasz, Enzo Lombi
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Remediation of Site Contamination
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Wightwick, A.M., Croatto, G., Reichman, S.M. et al. Horticultural Use of Copper-Based Fungicides Has Not Increased Copper Concentrations in Sediments in the Mid- and Upper Yarra Valley. Water Air Soil Pollut 224, 1701 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1701-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1701-3