Environmental management of pesticidal POPs in China: Past, present and future

Abstract

China, the largest developing country in the world, has been undergoing rapid economic growth in the past two decades. Synchronously, large quantities of persistent organic chlorinated pesticides have been used in agriculture and non-agriculture areas. Accompanying with incomplete management framework, the improper use and disposal of pesticides have caused serious pollution problems. In this study, we discussed: (1) ten persistent organochlorine pesticides in terms of historical production, consumption and number of manufacturers, import and export; (2) the current management framework of pesticidal persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with respect to legal system and government administrative system; (3) the existing problems in the management of pesticidal POPs; and proposed recommendations for countermeasures. Based on the available information, it can be concluded that records on the historical production and consumption quantities of pesticidal POPs are incomplete which makes a difficulty in the management. Although China has come a long way in developing a modern legal system, the current system is still considered weak and inefficient; and many challenges are ahead. The government administrative system has also been reformed and improved, but over-lapping jurisdictions still exist and are ineffective in managing pesticidal POPs program. To address these existing problems in pesticidal POPs management, it was suggested that more investigations should be conducted to collect information on pollution sources of pesticidal POPs, to evaluate their environmental risks, to identify new alternative chemicals and to complete management framework of pesticidal POPs in China. Furthermore, the public should be encouraged to participate in managing hazardous pesticidal POPs in China, and international cooperation and communication should be established and strengthened imperatively as well.

Insecticides in sediment cores from a rural and a suburban area in South China: A reflection of shift in application patterns

“…S8B), which was consistent with the historical use of DDT as it was later banned in 1983 (Wei et al, 2007;Wang et al, 2013). As expected, most DDT in the core was in the degradation form (DDE, DDD), as Table 1.…”

“…Changes in application patterns are well documented, and Fig. S6 provides a visual history of production and use of individual insecticides in China (Wei et al, 2007;Jia et al, 2009;Li et al, 2014bLi et al, , 2014c. The introduction, restriction, and prohibition of chemicals were evident when evaluating the temporal profiles of insecticide classes separately (Figs.…”

“…S6). In this period, 270 and 4900 kt of DDT and HCHs were used in China, respectively (Wei et al, 2007). After being phased out for agricultural use, small quantities of DDT were still produced for non-agricultural use until 2002.…”

Levels and patterns of organochlorine pesticides in agricultural soils in an area of extensive historical cotton cultivation in Henan province, China

“…Although the use of technical DDT in China was officially banned in 1983, about 4000-6000 tonnes of DDT continued to be produced annually for export and for use as an intermediate in the production of dicofol (Wei et al 2007). There remain currently two DDT technical production enterprises and one DDT processing enterprise together with three to five factories producing dicofol in China (NIP 2007).…”

Hexachlorobenzene sources, levels and human exposure in the environment of China

“…Direct production and use of HCB in China HCB has never been used directly as a pesticide in China, but has been used to produce pentachlorophenol (PCP) and pentachlorophenol-Na (PCP-Na), reagent and fireworks (Wei et al, 2007b). Hexachlorocycloheaxane (HCH) was used to produce lindane and HCB in China (HCH is thermally dehydrohalogenated to trichlorobenzene and then chlorinated to produce HCB which is treated with NaOH to produce PCP and PCP-Na).…”