2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) The objective of this cooperative project is to determine the fate of agrochemicals and their degradation products that are commonly used in the greenhouse industry including growth regulators, fertilizers, pesticides, and soilless media components such as polyacrylamide hydrogel. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Greenhouse and bench-top studies will be designed that allow for collection of leachate to track fertalizer and soilless media components fate. Soilless media and tissue samples will also be collected for fertilizer and pesticide tracking. Periodically, samples will be taken of the media and leachate for acrylamide analysis. These samples will be analyzed for elemental content with a C-N-S snalyzer and ICP-OES. More complex compounds that will be tracked will need to be extracted with organic solvent, followed by a chromatographic cleanup prior to injection into the gas chromatograph. Using these thchniques, the mass balance and fate of agrochemicals that are in use in greenhouses can be determined. 3.Progress Report This report serves to document research conducted under a Specific Cooperative Agreement with ARS and the University of Toledo. Additional details can be found in the report for the parent project 3607-21000-011-00D Develop Improved Technologies for Soilless Greenhouse Plant Production to Minimize Water, Labor, Agrochemical Inputs and Environment Impacts. Water-holding polymers were tested for the presence of acrylamide monomer using a liquid chromatography mass-spec – mass-spec methodology developed in 2006 for this project. Five commercial sources of polymer were tested including four materials that were polyacrylamide-based or of a similar material and one was a starch-based water-holding gel. The samples were hydrated and incubated at room temperature for ten weeks, sub-sampled at weekly intervals, and tested for acrylamide. All materials, including the starch-based polymer, contained acrylamide during at least 4 weeks of measurements. The non-starch-based polymers had significant acrylamide leached each week, averaging over 0.2 micrograms per week, but was highly variable. This work suggests that commercially available water-holding gels often contain the known carcinogen acrylamide. These accomplishments address NP-305, Component I, Problem Statement C. The ADODR monitored activities regularly through personal contacts and meetings with the PI since the research is done in the same building on the UT campus.