7
Pesticides in Fog
7.1 Introduction
Fog has long played a historical and mythical role in human history, in fog
enshrouded coast lines that inspired creation of light houses to guide mariners, to sophisticated radar systems on board aircraft and ocean feets to avoid
collisions. There are numerous fog-related accidents that annually claim lives
in highway, train, and shipping lanes. In WWII, fog played a vital role in
the Battle of Britain, illustrated well in allied bombing raids over Germany
near the end of Nazi Germany’s domination in the European theater—their
sustained success relied on the safe return of allied bombers over the cliffs
of Dover to landing strips often fogged into the west of Dover. A network
of shallow canals or berms containing combustible aircraft fuel was used
to burn off the fog layer and outline landing strips for pilots returning in
battered airplanes running near empty of fuel.
In this chapter, we describe research on pesticides and related contaminants in fog prone food production areas of California’s San Joaquin and
other coastal valleys (Figure 7.1). The partitioning of chemicals from air into
water can extend to all forms of water, including fogwater. Therefore, it is no
surprise fog and rainwater can accumulate residues, and thus help cleanse
the atmosphere of contaminants.
7.2 Pesticides in Fogwater
In the winter of 1970, Dwight Glotfelty of USDA-Agricultural Research
Station (ARS) and James Seiber of UC, Davis were sampling and analyzing water bodies (rainwater, streams, irrigation water, lakes, etc.) for pesticide residues near Chesapeake Bay near Beltsville, Maryland, and in the
San Joaquin Valley. Fog was not common in the Chesapeake Bay area, and
some early, rudimentary attempts to sample fogwater there largely failed.
However, they hypothesized that areas with heavy fog, such as the tule fog
DOI: 10.1201/9781003217602-7
101
Pesticides in Fog
7.1 Introduction
Fog has long played a historical and mythical role in human history, in fog
enshrouded coast lines that inspired creation of light houses to guide mariners, to sophisticated radar systems on board aircraft and ocean feets to avoid
collisions. There are numerous fog-related accidents that annually claim lives
in highway, train, and shipping lanes. In WWII, fog played a vital role in
the Battle of Britain, illustrated well in allied bombing raids over Germany
near the end of Nazi Germany’s domination in the European theater—their
sustained success relied on the safe return of allied bombers over the cliffs
of Dover to landing strips often fogged into the west of Dover. A network
of shallow canals or berms containing combustible aircraft fuel was used
to burn off the fog layer and outline landing strips for pilots returning in
battered airplanes running near empty of fuel.
In this chapter, we describe research on pesticides and related contaminants in fog prone food production areas of California’s San Joaquin and
other coastal valleys (Figure 7.1). The partitioning of chemicals from air into
water can extend to all forms of water, including fogwater. Therefore, it is no
surprise fog and rainwater can accumulate residues, and thus help cleanse
the atmosphere of contaminants.
7.2 Pesticides in Fogwater
In the winter of 1970, Dwight Glotfelty of USDA-Agricultural Research
Station (ARS) and James Seiber of UC, Davis were sampling and analyzing water bodies (rainwater, streams, irrigation water, lakes, etc.) for pesticide residues near Chesapeake Bay near Beltsville, Maryland, and in the
San Joaquin Valley. Fog was not common in the Chesapeake Bay area, and
some early, rudimentary attempts to sample fogwater there largely failed.
However, they hypothesized that areas with heavy fog, such as the tule fog
DOI: 10.1201/9781003217602-7
101