DETERMINING IF THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN HISTORICAL ORCHARDS AND ARSENIC CONCENTRATIONS FOUND IN EASTFORD AND POMFRET, CT

Arsenic is a naturally occurring element found within the Earth’s crust, rock, soil, water and air, as well as being a byproduct of human activities including mining, smelting, and coal-fired plants (GreenFacts, 2004). Lead arsenate (PbHAsO₄) was introduced as a pesticide to apple-orchard agriculture in the 1890’s to eradicate the invasive gypsy moth, until the 1980’s due to the harmful human and environmental health risks (Schooley et al., 2008). Short-term effects include vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. While long-term effects include pigmentation changes, skin lesions, and possibly carcinogenic. Arsenic compounds adsorb to soils and travel through the soil column through water or wind erosion to lower elevations (IPCS, 2001). By the 20th century, Connecticut became known as an apple-producing state, producing 24 different varieties. For this study, both well water and soil samples were collected during the summer of 2019 from selected locations in Eastford and Pomfret. Aerial photographs were extracted from the Connecticut State Library Collection from 1930 and 1965 then images were imported and georeferenced in a GIS program called ArcMap. A large-scaled apple orchard was identified in the towns of Eastford and Pomfret in the years 1934 and 1965 to compare the correlation between historical use of pesticides and contaminated water and soil samples. Well water and soil quality data overlaid the study areas using the inverse distance weighted tool (IDW). Elevation data for both Eastford and Pomfret were used to determine if there is a relationship with land slope and the concentration level of arsenic found within the area. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), has set a contaminated drinking water level of 10 µg/L. Results from this analysis, cannot justify that the historic orchards of Eastford and Pomfret contributed to arsenic concentrations previously and currently observed in water and soil as orchards studied here did not contribute significant amounts of arsenic to the water and soil.