Ambient air concentrations and risk assessment of selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) across five Middle Eastern countries

Abstract

This paper presents data obtained from concurrently deployed polyurethane foam disk passive samplers in Kuwait, Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Oman between January and October 2018. The study’s main goal was to initiate a passive air sampling network across the Middle East to generate comparable data, which will help report obligations of the various countries and be used in protocol discussions. The ∑24OCP concentrations were highest in the samples collected from Kartaba in Lebanon (7780 pg·m-3), and the lowest concentration was recorded at the BUTAL site in the Bursa province of Turkey (7.27 pg·m-3). The mean ambient ∑24OCP concentrations on a country-specific basis over consecutive sampling campaigns were: Lebanon (1680 pg·m-3) > Bursa (Turkey) (78.7 pg·m-3) > Oman (55 pg·m-3) > Kuwait (42 pg·m-3) > Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (19.1 pg·m-3). The results show no cancer risk due to inhalation of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in ambient air. This study provides the first reliable measurements of the spatial variability in the atmospheric concentrations of OCPs across several Middle Eastern countries, providing a baseline for assessing time trends in air, one of the core matrices for the effectiveness evaluation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

The effect of military conflict zone in the Middle East on atmospheric persistent organic pollutant contamination in its north

“…Observation of the highest PBDE-66 and PBDE-85 concentrations in the group closest to the war zone support that they may be indicators of LRAT from the conflict zone to its north. Gevao et al (2022a) reported evidence for current and past usagere-volatilization of aged DDTs based on p,p'-DDE/p,p'-DDT ratio, and current usage of lindane or technical HCH considering α/γ HCH ratio across the middle east, which renders the conflict zone as a potential source area in support to the findings of this study and their LRAT potential (Wu et al, 2010).…”

“…The mean ∑ 9 OCP concentration in Bursa was 25.7 pg/m 3 and p,p'-DDE had the highest contribution (6.9 pg/m 3 ). Gevao et al (2022a) deployed samplers along a northwest-southeast transect across the Middle East at several sites (agricultural, industrial, remote, urban, and background) which were close to the war zone. The average ∑ 24 OCP concentrations of the subject countries were Lebanon at 1684 pg/m 3 > Turkey at 78.7 pg/m 3 > Oman at 55 pg/m 3 > Kuwait at 42 pg/m 3 > Saudi Arabia at 19.1 pg/m 3 .…”

“…Large quantities of POPs may be released into the environment and be subject to transport during war, creating particular source areas. Therefore, areas of conflict/war to the south of Turkey specifically Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine/Israel may be sources of POPs for which the literature is very limited (Gevao et al, 2022a(Gevao et al, , 2022b. Based on this hypothesis, a 7-month passive sampling campaign was conducted by proximity grouping ten sampling points in Anatolia on a transect from the southern border region of the country, as close and middle distance, to the west (Izmir) and northwest (Bursa) forming the far distance group.…”