Environmental Earth Sciences

, Volume 73, Issue 7, pp 3275–3284 | Cite as

Evaluation of the risk to groundwater after treating logs with cypermethrin

  • Dimitri Dousse
  • Luiz Felippe de Alencastro
  • Dominique Grandjean
  • Robert Jenni
  • François Zwahlen
Original Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

In order to protect conifer logs against attacks from the striped ambrosia beetle (Trypodendron lineatum) during spring in Swiss forests, logs are treated with the insecticide cypermethrin. Rainfall can cause the insecticide to leach into the ground, potentially threatening the groundwater quality. Forest groundwater is widely used for drinking water, which means that any contaminants within it should be avoided. This study assesses the risk of groundwater contamination in field conditions. The two study areas are located on unconsolidated sediments (Censières, or CS) and on karstic rocks (Grand Bochat, or GB). An analytical method was developed to determine the concentration of cypermethrin and its degradation products 3-PBA and DCVA in water samples. Intensive rainfall was simulated in order to mimic a situation that threatens groundwater. The study’s results show that, when treated according to the manufacturer’s instructions, a certain amount of insecticide was leached during the first rainfall event (2.2 g or 4.4 % of the applied cypermethrin). This leaching threatens groundwater quality, but can be avoided by decreasing the pesticide amount applied while maintaining a satisfactory protection. The insecticide amount that reached the groundwater was very low and was related to simulated rainfall, not natural rainfall. In Censières, only one groundwater sample presented a cypermethrin concentration (4 μg/l). In Grand Bochat, after a simulated rainfall of 36 mm, 3.3 % of the insecticide (5 g) was leached and 0.05 % of the total applied insecticide amount (corresponding to 1.5 % of the leached insecticide) reached the groundwater under the epikarst layer.

Keywords

Cypermethrin Logs Insecticide treatment Groundwater contamination 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the “Service des parcs et domains” of the city of Lausanne and the “Service des forêts” of the city of Neuchâtel, which permitted and actively supported the realisation of the experiments on the studied areas Censières and Grand Bochat, and also lent materials and made employees available to assist. Thanks are also due to the Soil & Vegetation Laboratory of the University of Neuchâtel for the soil analysis. This research was funded by the Alpeau project, which is a part of the France-Switzerland Interreg programme of territorial cooperation.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Dimitri Dousse
    • 1
  • Luiz Felippe de Alencastro
    • 2
  • Dominique Grandjean
    • 2
  • Robert Jenni
    • 3
  • François Zwahlen
    • 1
  1. 1.Center for Hydrogeology and Geothermics (CHYN)University of NeuchâtelNeuchâtelSwitzerland
  2. 2.Central Environmental Laboratory, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental EngineeringEcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFLLausanneSwitzerland
  3. 3.Bureau Nouvelle Forêt SàrlFribourgSwitzerland

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