“We continue to learn more about how past agricultural practices are affecting our current environment. Unlike some pesticides used today, metals like arsenic and lead in old pesticides do not degrade over time.”
“Communities in these areas may want to ensure additional precautions are taken to control erosion when old orchard lands are disturbed in order to reduce the potential for contamination of nearby surface water.”
“We learned that disturbing this land, for example tilling and replanting, mobilizes the arsenic and lead. The remobilized metals were found in sediments in a stream channel that drains the tilled orchard.”
“Historic farmlands in New Hampshire and elsewhere are increasingly being developed. While the arsenic and lead in the soils of old orchards is essentially immobile as long as the land is not disturbed, our work suggests that the development of these lands can inadvertently mobilize these metals toward bodies of water. Communities in these areas may want to ensure additional precautions are taken to control erosion when old orchard lands are disturbed in order to reduce the potential for contamination of nearby surface waters.”
