What Happens To Pesticides When It Rains?

What happens to pesticides at farms when it rains? This is a problem that I think many people are unsure of.  We all know that most farms use pesticides in order to prevent crops from going bad. Sometimes the farms do not have a choice but to use pesticides. When it rains hard or even sprinkles pesticides will runoff from the farm into the ground and the water supply. This creates a health problem for people and families all over the world.  

There is another side to the pesticide story. Some think that is sometimes a good thing when there is runoff.  According to the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, “The leaching of some herbicides into the root zone can give you better weed control.”  When people put down chemicals on the land because of the leaching others plants will “go” away or suffer because of it.

So what happens when the pesticide is put down on the farm? The first step is the farmer putting down the chemical on the land. Then according to the Ministry of Aquiculture, “These processes include adsorption, transfer, breakdown and degradation. Transfer includes processes that move the pesticide away from the target site. These include volatilization, spray drift, runoff, leaching, and absorption and crop removal.” Now if we take rain and add that to the equation you will get a nasty situation that will devastate the environment for years to come.  Chemicals on farms are not the best situation for the environment but when it rains it creates and even worse scenario for the environment.

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/pesticides/c_2.htm