The highest diuron concentrations were 19 μgL-1 in the Tully-Murray region, 3.8 μgL-1 in the Burdekin-Townsville region and 22 μgL-1 in the Mackay Whitsunday region; all associated with >10% sugar cane cultivation as the main land use (Fig. 2a). Diuron residues at the sites draining sugar cane (particularly >10% sugar cane) were consistently above the ANZECC and ARMCANZ (2000) ecological trigger value (0.2 μgL-1) across all three monitored regions (Fig. 2a). While the ANZECC and ARMCANZ (2000) ecological protection trigger values were developed for low flow conditions, they are the only available reference to assess the risk of pesticide residues in the environment.
Pesticide runoff to the Great Barrier Reef
Assessing the risks
Lewis, S. E., Brodie, J.E., Bainbridge, Z.T., Rohde, K.W., Davis, A.M., Masters, B.L. Maughan, M., Devlin, M.J., Mueller, J.F., and Schaffelke, B. (2008) Pesticide runoff to the Great Barrier Reef. Assessing the risks. Report to the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns (26 pp.).
Published by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre on behalf of the Australian Government’s Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility