Pesticide Leaching and Run-off Hazard in the Ribeira de Iguape River Basin in São Paulo State, Brazil

The aim of this study is to provide technical information concerning water resource protection to enhance environmentally sound public policy and planning for compatible regional development. We investigated the potential threat linked to agricultural development, which is the major economic activity directly associated with surface and underground water contamination. A preliminary analysis was carried out on the potential contamination of surface and underground water by the most commonly used chemical ingredients in the Ribeira de Iguape agricultural basin. In-depth evaluations of several active ingredients related to the use of pesticides were appraised by the United States Environmental Protection Agency – USEPA screening criteria combined with the Groundwater Ubiquity Score (GUS) and a method proposed by Gos (1992). Almost all the pesticides evaluated contained some environmental mobility, with the exception of terbufos and carbaryl.