Kuivila would like to see increased monitoring of fungicides, but she acknowledges this won't be easy because they are hard to detect in sediment. Testing also is expensive. But the idea is gaining traction, she said.

"I'm starting to hear more and more people adding fungicides to their analytical methods," she said. "I'm happy to see that."

Waller, the Georgia soybean farmer, says he tries to limit the risk of fungicides escaping his 100 acres.

He says he's stingy with water so that he has very little runoff. He applies fungicides only during dry spells so that the fungicides will soak into the ground instead of washing off the field. He uses them at least twice each year – a tool to make his land as efficient as possible.

"I sing to 'em and pray to 'em and walk the field and pull the weeds and try to do everything I can for high yield," Waller said.

This article originally ran at Environmental Health News, a news source published by Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit media company.

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