Monitoring results for organochlorine pesticides in soil and water from selected obsolete pesticide stores in Pakistan

Abstract

This study reports on the concentration and distribution pattern of organochlorine pesticides in soil and water samples collected from obsolete pesticide stores in three provinces of Pakistan and analyzed on capillary gas chromatography/electron capture detection. The data for soil and water samples were highly variable as samplings were done from diversified locations. The soil samples mainly contained DDTs followed by lindane and heptachlor. The contamination levels in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab, and Sindh were in ranges of 247-9,157 mg kg(-1), 214-10,892 mg kg(-1), and 86-1,139 mg kg(-1), respectively. In water, residue range levels were 0-15.17 (median 0.29) microg L(-1), 0.25-0.78 (median 0.36) microg L(-1), and 0.11-0.83 (median 0.21) microg L(-1) in NWFP, Punjab, and Sindh, respectively.

Occurrence and spatio-vertical distribution of DDT in soils of abandoned DDT factory area, Amangarh, Pakistan

“…The results of this study were in good agreement with the previous research studies conducted for the investigation of ∑DDT in and around DDT factory area, Amangarh, Pakistan [21]. The variance in ∑DDT contamination at different sites can be attributed to the change in vegetation cover.…”

“…In Pakistan, the total production of pesticides increased from 1.4 to 13.8 million kg from 1982 to 1997 [20]. In December 2001, the government signed Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants and banned 21 hazardous pesticides including DDT [21][22][23][24]. Unfortunately, in urban areas, POPs illegal manufacturing units are still fully operational and releasing a large number of toxic pesticides [24,25].…”

Avaliação dos parâmetros de solubilidade de Hildebrand/Hansen na seleção de solventes para a extração de pesticidas organoclorados do solo

“…31 É importante ressaltar que é comum a existência de sítios de contaminação com concentrações de pesticidas organoclorados muito superiores aos valores de orientação mencionados anteriormente, o que também justifica a aplicabilidade do método proposto. 1,32,33 CONCLUSÃO O método de extração proposto é simples, rápido e envolve poucas etapas, o que contribui para a precisão e exatidão dos resultados. Os LQM do DDT, DDE e Aldrin são menores que as "concentrações de alerta" estabelecidas por agências de fiscalização ambientais nacionais e internacionais, o que destaca a aplicabilidade do método proposto.…”

Bioremediation Potential of White Rot Fungi, Pleurotus Spp against Organochlorines

“…Organochlorines are carcinogenic and mutagenic and are reported to possess estrogenic activity. Most developed countries stopped using these pesticides after imposition of ban but developing or underdeveloped countries could not due to lack of policy [3]. White rot fungi (Basidiomycetes:Xylariaceae) are popular among all fungi as these can tolerate high concentration of pesticides from mix-load sites [4].…”