Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide worldwide and is often transported from application areas to surface water when solubilized in runoff, sorbed to eroded sediment or taken up by plants. There is evidence that suggests both glyphosate and its main metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) may pose a risk to human health, as well as cause adverse effects in the environment. Concerns about impacts to the environment and human health continues to grow and application rates increase with production of glyphosate-resistant crops for more efficient weed control in agriculture. The widespread use of glyphosate may be resulting in glyphosate transport to drinking water resources, especially in karst topography. Scientific understanding and analytical methods for analyzing glyphosate and AMPA with low detection and consistent monitoring data is a lacking. The goal of this proposed work is to develop analytical methods for analyzing glyphosate and AMPA by establishing a partnership with Dr. Lee Blaney, a leader in environmental engineering at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). The new analytical methods will support a long-term collaboration focused on detecting and quantifying polar pesticides occurrence and creating sustainability assessment tools for agroecosystems. Implications of this work will inform decision-making and assist farmers in sustainable agroecosystem management.
The goal of this proposed work is to develop analytical methods for analyzing glyphosate and AMPA. The new analytical methods will support a long-term collaboration focused on detecting and quantifying polar pesticides occurrence and creating sustainability assessment tools for agroecosystems. This research addresses a significant gap in knowledge and need for sensitive analytical methods for detecting glyphosate and AMPA at low concentrations and environmental monitoring. In collaboration with Dr. Lee Blaney at University of Maryland Baltimore County, new pretreatment protocols using solid phase extraction and quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction with liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectroscopy will be developed. Stored frozen water, sediment and plant samples collected previously from watersheds on karst topography will be transported to UMBC and analyzed using the proposed methods. New data for glyphosate and AMPA at low detection limit will be generated; current methods do not provide enough resolution for detecting polar pesticides at low concentrations. Analytical results will be used to evaluate the occurrence of glyphosate and AMPA, transport, fate, ecotoxicity, and human toxicity. This proposed research not only develops transformative techniques for detecting glyphosate and AMPA at low concentrations but provide real-world methods for safeguarding sensitive species and human health. Research activities will be disseminated through traditional academic journals and via on-boarding training modules for researchers analyzing glyphosate and AMPA. Underrepresented students in engineering will be engaged in the formation of the training to encourage and support research development, diversity and inclusion.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
