handle, and use pesticides cautiously. These include:. The observed restrictions on where and when each product may be used, climatic conditions, method of application, necessary safety equipment and who may not use the product.. Observe restrictions on setback from drinking water wells, surface water bodies and other sensitive habitat.. Observe restrictions on storage, handling, mixing, and using the products and disposal of empty containers or leftover product. Dispite these precautions and stages, with today's advanced monitoring technology pesticides and their degradation products often undetected in surface water bodies and shallow groundwaters are vulnerable to contamination. The drinking water aquifers only were rarely having detectable pesticide residues. New federal and state clean water policies often focused water quality protection strategies on watershed resource management tailored to local needs, and state and university monitoring has shown detections of pesticide contaminants in unfiltered river water only rarely exceeds federal and state drinking water standards established for tap water. Most frequently detected pesticides are low concentrations of herbicides in agricultural areas and other herbicides and insecticides in urban and non-agricultural areas monitoring found pesticides throughout the year in streams sample across all major land-use settings. The most agricultural areas, pesticides are detected as seasonal pulses lasting from a few days to several months during and following high use periods. Total pesticide concentrations in streams draining urban areas are generally lower than the agricultural areas, but seasonal pulses are more dominated by insecticides, which may be more toxic to some aquatic life than herbicides. Over the last 25 years since the Clean Water Act (CWA) most of the historic point source toxic problems have been corrected, revealing less obvious n...
