Simulation of Organic Chemical Movement in Hawaii Soils with PRZM: 1. Preliminary Results for Ethylene Dibromide

Abstract

Leaching of agricultural chemicals to groundwater is an environmental issue of major concern in Hawaii. Fumigants used by the pineapple industry are a possible source of this contamination. In this paper we report the results of an initial evaluation of the Pesticide Root Zone Model (PRZM) for highly structured Hawaiian soils. We use PRZM to predict the transport of the soil fumigant ethylene dibromide (EDB) for two pineapple fields and compare the simulated concentration profiles with field measurements. Although preliminary, our results suggest that PRZM may be useful in the future for pesticide screening and risk assessment in Hawaii. The work reported here is part of a larger ongoing study concerned with development and application of methodology for assessing potential groundwater contamination by pesticides.