A lot of Americans take to the golf course on Saturday afternoons. There must be something about beating on a little white ball and then chasing it across the countryside that is soothing after a week at work. Across the U.S., prodigious amounts of fertilizer, irrigation water, and pesticides are used to keep golf courses green. Today, let’s focus on the pesticides.
Most pesticides are produced from hydrocarbons, and a certain amount of the material vaporizes into the atmosphere upon application. Question is: after 18 holes of golf, just how much pesticide has the average golfer inhaled? And, does that amount approach levels that are known to be carcinogenic or otherwise toxic to humans.
A recent study from Cornell University says that answer is no. We are OK on the golf course.
More than 60% of the 37 pesticides tested had volatilization rates less than 0.1% of their mass. For a few pesticides, such as benefin and trifluraline, despite volatilization losses ranging from 3.2 to 8.3% of application, the airborne concentrations were quickly diluted down to levels not known to be harmful to humans.
Field measurements were used to confirm the dilution predictions from atmospheric models, and the results were calculated for golf courses in various climatic zones across the nation.
Golf courses have a number of environmental impacts, but at least for now, barring undisclosed spills, it appears that their patrons are not at risk of pesticide exposure.
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Web Links
See Wong, HG. and D.A. Haith. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2013
Photo, taken on March 15, 2008, courtesy of Fevi in Pictures via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.