Seasonal atrazine contamination of drinking water in pig-breeding farm surroundings in agricultural and industrial areas of Croatia.

Atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) a s-triazine herbicide, has been widely used in Croatian agriculture. Due to atrazine extensive use and its biodegradation in nature within at least one year (Klassen and Kodoum 1979), atrazine residues are found in ground, surface, drain and drinking water (Vidacek et al. 1994; Gojmerac et al. 1994). Groundwater downgradient from atrazine treated fields may show seasonal concentration peaks which could exceed the safe level (Wehtje et al. 1983). Therefore, the use of atrazine includes permanent control of its residues in water, particularly in relation to its use as a herbicidal chemical and groundwater contamination (Graham 1991). Furthermore, the presence of atrazine in the environment and its possible ingestion via the water, food and feed chain, may present a risk for the animal and human health. The analysis of atrazine residues in soil can be performed by either colorimetry or high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (Vickrey et al. 1980), and in water, soil and food by immunoassay in comparison with HPLC or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GS-MS) (Bushway et al. 1988; Bushway et al. 1989; Bushway et al. 1992; Thurman et al. 1990). We describe the use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for one-year seasonal monitoring of atrazine residues in drinking water from two differently situated pig-breeding farms (agricultural and industrial areas) in Croatia. Results obtained by ELISA were compared to those produced by HPLC.