Measuring Transport of Lawn-Applied Herbicide Acids from Turf to Home:  Correlation of Dislodgeable 2,4-D Turf Residues with Carpet Dust and Carpet Surface Residues

Transport of lawn-applied herbicides into the home via walking over treated turf, defined here as track-in, was measured at five different times out to 1 week after application. Residues of turf-applied 2,4-D and dicamba were measured in carpet dust and on the carpet surface after track-in. Both carpet dust levels and carpet surface dislodgeable residue levels were highly correlated with turf dislodgeable residue levels. Turf dislodgeable residues were 0.1−0.2% of turf application levels. Transfer of herbicides from turf to carpet dust was 3% of the turf dislodgeable residues. Transfer from turf to carpet surface was 0.3% of the turf dislodgeable residues. Herbicide 2,4-D was measured in the carpet dust of suburban homes at the 0.1−5 μg/g levels that are predicted by this efficiency of mass transfer. New tools used to collect these samples included the polyurethane foam roller dislodgeable residue sampler and the high-volume solid surface sampler.