Pesticide Concentrations in 100 Midwestern Streams (2013)

2013 data from 100 wadeable streams across 11 Midwestern U.S. states, collected weekly from May to August. The dataset includes measurements for 227 pesticide compounds and glyphosate, produced by the U.S. Geological Survey's NAWQA Project. It supports analysis of aquatic toxicity and links to a controlled mesocosm experiment on imidacloprid effects.

Use Cases

• Analyze pesticide concentration data across an agricultural land-use gradient for 88 sites to model watershed runoff patterns.
• Evaluate potential aquatic toxicity using the Pesticide Toxicity Index and EPA benchmarks against measured compound concentrations.
• Investigate the effects of the insecticide imidacloprid by linking environmental concentration data to invertebrate metrics from the mesocosm study.
• Compare pesticide profiles between 12 urban indicator sites and the 88 agricultural sites to identify land-use influences.

Strengths

• Data from 100 distinct stream sites provides broad spatial coverage across 11 states.
• Analysis includes a large suite of 227 specific pesticide compounds plus glyphosate.
• Weekly sampling over a 14-week period (May-August 2013) captures seasonal dynamics.
• Integrates environmental monitoring with controlled experimental data from a mesocosm study.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a single season (2013), preventing long-term trend analysis.
• Spatial scope is restricted to the Midwestern U.S., limiting geographic generalizability.
• The specific sample count (rows) and data structure (columns) are not detailed in the provided input.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project.

Collection Method

Weekly water samples were collected, filtered, and analyzed via liquid chromatography with tandem mass-spectrometry (227 compounds) and ELISA (glyphosate).

Time Range

May to August 2013.

Freshness

Data reflects 2013 conditions; metadata was last updated in 2026.

Geography

100 wadeable streams across eleven states in the Midwestern United States.