Insecticide Residues in Waterways from Agricultural Use

Biological transfer and loss of /sup 36/Cl-labeled DDT in an old-field ecosystem

“…Residues have been reported in places as remote from the use of DDT as Antarctica (George and Frear 1966;Peterle 1969). Once deposited on the earth's surface by rain or snow, DDT is again removed and transported to other areas, primarily by surface run-off (Chisholm and Koblitsky 1959;Hindin et al 1966;Sparr et al 1966;Freed 1970;Pionke and Chesters 1973;Willis and Hamilton 1973;Gerakis and Sficas 1974). The DDT transported by run-off is mainly associated with the particulate matter and not the water itself (Freed 1970;Pionke and Chesters 1973;SBdergren 1973;Holden 1975).…”

“…Even though DDT is relatively insoluble in water (Bowman et al 1960;Metcalf 1971;Woodwell et al 1971), once into the water systems, it is very persistent (Lichtenstein and Schulz 1961), probably because of its adsorption to particulate matter. Organochlorine insecticides are generally considered to be non-leachable in soils; hence, very little contamination of ground waters occurs (Bowman et al 1965;Sparr et al 1966;Guenzi and Beard 1967;Freed 1970;Pionke and Chesters 1973;Willis and Hamilton 1973;Gerakis and Sficas 1974;Achari et al 1975).…”

Interactions Between DDT and River Fungi

“…DDT[1 , 1, 1-trichloro-2 ,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane] was introduced into the aquatic environment indirectly (26,41) and directly, with the object of controlling the insect vectors of animal diseases (32). The insecticide can be detected in the surface waters or bottom sediments of springs (37), wells (17), sewage effluents (20), irrigation canals (17, 18), ponds (2), lakes (17,25,28), streams (6,8,15,20,40), rivers (1,4,13,17,28,35), river estuaries (3,39), and tidal marshes (11). It was reported that DDT and its analogues are accumulated by freshwater and marine plants (2,8,9,11,19,25,27) and animals (2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14-16, 19, 21,22,25,31,33,36,40,43).…”