Turf Grass: Pesticide Exposure Assessment and Predictive Modeling Tools

"The majority of Americans reside in urban or suburban settings where well-maintained turf grass provides numerous aesthetic, safety and ecological benefits. By one estimate, up to 90% of Americans may come into some contact with grass on a given day. This contact could be in the form of school children playing kickball during recess, an office worker walking to lunch with colleagues, a golfer practicing at the local driving range, a soccer team kneeling for a pre-game pep talk from their coach or a home-owner puttering about the lawn on a relaxing weekend. As current turf management practices frequently involve the use of pesticides and other crop protection chemicals, there exists a need to continuously improve our ability to assess the environmental and/or human health risks which may be posed by these compounds. In addition to pollution and drinking water issues, there are concerns surrounding the widespread population declines observed for amphibians, insect pollinators, and endangered species such as salmon...Pesticides used on turf grass are being detected in urban surface and ground waters; the verdict is still out on the role that this category of pesticide use may play, if any, in regional environmental impacts and declines. Regardless, the need for improved procedures and models to assess potential ecological exposure from pesticides remains high.

This book is based on a symposium held at the 230th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, DC. It presents advances made in techniques used for measuring, modeling and assessing the human and ecological effects of pesticides applied to turf grass. The book chapters are ordered in three sections: the first presents exposure assessments; the second, field studies; and the third, probabilistic modeling methodologies."
- From the Preface