Soil and river contamination patterns of chlordecone in a tropical volcanic catchment in the French West Indies (Guadeloupe)

A conceptual model of organochlorine fate from a combined analysis of spatial and mid- to long-term trends of surface and ground water contamination in tropical areas (FWI)

“…Despite its worldwide ban in 1992 (there was an exemption in FWI until 1993), CLD continues to contaminate aquatic ecosystems in different parts of the world (Coat et al, 2011;Luellen et al, 2006). As a consequence, CLDpolluted soils in FWI go on to contaminate GW (Arnaud et al, 2017;Gourcy et al, 2009) and rivers (Bocquene and Franco, 2005;Coat et al, 2011;Crabit et al, 2016;Mottes et al, 2015; Observatoire de l'Eau de la Martinique et al, 2012). This pollution raises concerns, as CLD causes adverse effects on health, from both acute and chronic exposure (Cannon et al, 1978;Cordier et al, 2017;Multigner et al, 2015).…”

Relationships between past and present pesticide applications and pollution at a watershed outlet: The case of a horticultural catchment in Martinique, French West Indies

“…The increasing population worldwide and especially in tropical countries results in an increase of cultivated areas and in an intensification of cropping systems, especially through intense fertilizer and pesticide uses. Water pollution from agricultural activities affects tropical regions such as Central America, the Caribbean and South-East Asia (Kammerbauer and Moncada, 1998;Rawlins et al, 1998;McDonald et al, 1999;Cabidoche et al, 2009;Charlier et al, 2009;Toan et al, 2013;Crabit et al, 2016). These regions show severe levels of pesticides in water when compared to the European Water Framework (2000/60/CE) and the European Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) thresholds that define 0.1 mg L À1 as the acceptable limit of individual pesticide content in raw water for good ecological status and in drinking water.…”

“…In the tropical context, several research has been conducted on water contamination by pesticides (Lewis et al, 2016), but few were conducted in tropical context at the catchment scale (Houdart et al, 2009). Tropical studies, that explicitly consider the catchment scale, were focused on one pesticide or one cropping system and did not account for the diversity of horticultural cropping systems of such places (Castillo et al, 2000;Charlier et al, 2009;Varca, 2012;Crabit et al, 2016;Della Rossa et al, 2017). This makes it difficult for water resource managers to select priority measures on such context.…”

Habitat Selection by the Ringed Kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata stictipennis) in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe: Possible Negative Association with Chlordecone Pollution

“…Given the particular agricultural history of some islands in the Antilles, we put forward the hypothesis that long-lasting effects of chloredone pollution, which persists in the environment for centuries (Crabit et al 2016), could have had adverse ecological conditions on freshwater ecosystems of Guadaloupe, including the Ringed Kingfisher. On Basse-Terre, we document a lower relative use of the lower sections of rivers by the Ringed Kingfisher, which run though the heavily chlordecone contaminated estuary on the east coast ( Fig.…”

“…Tightly associated to banana farming, the chlordecone, an organochlorine insecticide, has been used heavily and extensively by farmers to control regular damage by a root borer, the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus, from 1973 until its ban on Guadeloupe in September 1993 by French law (Cabidoche and Lesueur 2011). The widespread use of chlordecone resulted in an extended pollution of soils, waters and riverbed sediments (Crabit et al 2016), which ecological consequences remains poorly documented and studied on Guadaloupe. Since spreading of chemicals in the landscape for agriculture can potentially alter the distribution of birds (Douthwaite 1982;Parson et al 2010;Mineau and Whiteside 2013), one factor that may have influenced Ringed Kingfisher populations in the Guadeloupe could be the historical use of chlordecone.…”