Distribution of Pesticides and PCBs in Sediments of Agricultural Drains in the Culiacan Valley, Sinaloa, Mexico

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the most important economic activities in Sinaloa, Mexico. The Culiacan Valley is an extensive agricultural region characterized by a variety of crops with high-yield productions. In this study, concentrations of organochlorine (OCPs) and organophosphorus (OPs) pesticides and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) were determined in sediments of the agricultural drainage system of Culiacan Valley. Overall, 32 compounds were detected, with concentrations widely ranging from 0.03 to 1 294 ng g(-1) dry weight. OCP concentrations (15) ranged from 0.1 to 20.19 ng g(-1) dw. OP concentrations (8) ranged from 0.03 to 1294 ng g(-1) dw, and diazinon was the compound with the highest concentration. PCB concentrations were also determined and varied from 0.05 to 3.29 ng g(-1) dw. Other compounds detected included permethrin, triadimefon, and fipronil. The central zone registered the higher concentrations and the greatest number of compounds, which could be related to the occurrence of horticultural fields in this zone. According to sediment quality guidelines, the compounds exceeding the probable effect level were γ-HCH, p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE, while the pesticides above the maximum permissible concentration were endosulfan, azinphos methyl, diazinon, dichlorvos, and permethrin. Although Sinaloa is an important agricultural crop producer in northwest Mexico, there are not many studies dealing with pesticide distribution in agricultural areas.

Emerging Contaminants: Analysis, Aquatic Compartments and Water Pollution

“…Sinaloa is an example of an industrialized agricultural region in Northwestern Mexico that is characterized by a variety of crops and high production. In this State of Mexico, pesticides have been found in sediments of agricultural drainages (García-de la Parra et al 2012). From this assessment, concentrations of organochlorine compounds (15 substances) and organophosphorus compounds (8 substances) were within the ranges 0.1-20.19 ng/g and 0.03-1294 ng/g, respectively, being diazinon the compound with the highest concentration.…”

“…Another important problem in Mexico, as in other Latin American countries, is the presence of pesticides in water resources (García-de la Parra et al 2012;Arellano-Aguilar et al 2017). The high availability and convenient cost of agrochemicals, as well as flexible environmental laws have led to an overuse of pesticides in Mexico, in order to satisfy the global demand of agricultural products.…”

Detection of residual organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides in agricultural soil in Rio Verde region of San Luis Potosi, Mexico

“…[9] Nowadays, wheat, maize, oatmeal, sorghum, alfalfa and cotton are the main crops there. [36] In contrast, ever since the last century, Rio Verde region has been the land for growing maize, serrano chili, tomatoes, alfalfa and citrus (orange and lemon). [16] The kind of crops, crop cycle and crop protection (phytosanitary control) are correlated with the presence and concentration of pesticides in agricultural soils.…”

Fitorremediación: Alternativa biotecnológica para recuperar suelos contaminados con DDT. Una revisión

“…Estudios dirigidos por la Organización Panamericana de Salud demuestran que, en las comunidades de Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panamá y México, el rociado de DDT en el interior de los hogares provoca acumulación del compuesto en el suelo interior y exterior de las casas (Pérez-Maldonado et al, 2010). En México, en los estados de Oaxaca (Yáñez, Ortiz-Pérez, Batres, Borja-Aburto & Díaz-Barriga, 2002), Chiapas (Martínez-Salinas, Díaz-Barriga, Batres-Esquivel & Pérez-Maldonado, 2011), Chihuahua (Díaz-Barriga et al, 2012), Sinaloa (García-de la Parra et al, 2012), Tabasco (Torres-Dosal et al, 2012), San Luis Potosí (Velasco et al, 2014) y Yucatán (Giácoman-Vallejos et al, 2018) el DDT se ha encontrado en concentraciones que exceden los límites permisibles en suelos, sedimentos, mantos acuíferos, organismos marinos e incluso mujeres y niños de diversas edades (hasta 26,980 µg/kg de DDT en suelo agrícola y 58,270 µg de DDT/L de suero humano). Además, existen indicadores del uso ilegal del DDT como agroquímico en África, China y México (Gyalpo et al, 2012;Mochungong & Zhu, 2015;Mahugija, Nambela & Mmochi, 2017;Ponce-Vélez & Botello, 2018;Giácoman-Vallejos et al, 2018;Peng et al, 2020;Sun et al, 2020); en Europa el DDT, DDE y DDD, son de los insecticidas de mayor presencia en los suelos agrícolas (Silva et al, 2019), a pesar de haberse dejado de utilizar desde hace varias décadas.…”