Levels, distributions, and source identification of organochlorine pesticides in the topsoils in Northeastern China

Seventeen topsoil samples （9 urban, 4 suburban, 3 rural and 1 background） were collected in/around Harbin, a typical city in northeast of China, to measure concentration levels of organocholrine pesticides （OCPs） in topsoil of Northeastern China in 2006. Hexachlorohexanes （HCH）, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane （DDT）, and hexachlorobenzene （HCB） were detected in soil samples with mean concentrations （in pg/g dry weight （dw）） of 7120, 5425, and 1039, respectively. The mean concentrations for other OCPs were very low, 4.8 pg/g dw for chlordane and 3.3 pg/g dw for endosulfan. Source identification analysis reveals that all OCPs found in soil samples were due to historical use of these chemicals or from other source regions through long- and short-range atmospheric transport. DDT was mainly used in the rural sites, whereas the sources of HCB, chlordane and endosulfan were mainly in the urban area. HCH was found almost equally in both urban and rural area. Soil concentrations of all detected OCPs, except HCHs, in and around Harbin were much lower than those in the southeast of China, which is expected since the use of these OCPs in the former was much lower than that in the latter, however higher HCH concentrations in and around Harbin than those found in most places of the Southeast China is not expected. It is suggested that high HCH concentration in soil of Northeast China was most likely due to long-range atmospheric transport （LRAT） from Southeast China and the cold condensation process.

Organochlorine pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water and sediment of the Bosten Lake,Northwest China

We evaluated organic pollution in Bosten Lake, Xinjiang, China, by measuring the concentrations and distributions of organochlorine pesticides （OCPs） and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）. Water and sediment samples were collected from 19 sites 031-1319） in the lake for analysis. Our analytical results show that the concentrations of total OCPs in water ranges from 30.3 to 91.6 ng/L and the concentrations of PAHs ranges from undetectable （ND） to 368.7 ng/L. The concentrations of total OCPs in surface （i.e., lake bottom） sediment ranges from 6.9 to 16.7 ng/g and the concentrations of PAHs ranges from 25.2 to 491.0 ng/g. Hexachlorocyclohexanes （HCHs） and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes （DDTs） account for large proportions of the OCPs. Low α- to γ-HCH ratios in both water and sediment samples indicate possible contributions from both industrial products and lindane. DDTs in water are probably from historical input, whereas DDTs in sediments are from both historical and recent inputs. Moreover, DDT products in both water and sediments were from multiple sources in the northwestern part of the lake（B11, B12, B13, and B14）. Fugacity ratios for DDT isomers （p,p＇-DDE and p,p＇-DDT） at these sites were generally higher than equilibrium values. These results suggest that the input from the Kaidu River and diffusion of DDTs from the sediment to the water are responsible for DDT pollution in the water. Lower-molecular-weight PAHs, which originate primarily from wood and coal combustion and petroleum sources, represent the major fraction of the PAHs in both water and sediment samples. Our findings indicate that OCPs and PAHs in Bosten Lake can be attributed primarily to human activities. A risk assessment of OCPs and PAHs in water and sediment from Bosten Lake, however, suggests that concentrations are not yet high enough to cause adverse biological effects on the aquatic ecosystem.

Residues of organochlorine pesticides in surface soils from college school yards in Beijing, China

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) have been a major environmental issue, attracting much scientific concern because of their nature of toxicity, persistence, and endocrine disrupting effects. Soil samples were collected from ten college school yards in Beijing in 2006 and analyzed to determine fifteen OCPs. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) were found to be the main pollutants, accounting for 93.70% of total OCPs, followed by hexachlorohexanes (HCHs) (2.25%) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) (1.82%). Content...

A 50-years record of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethanes and hexachloro-cyclohexanes in lake sediments and penguin droppings on King George Island, Maritime Antarctic

Since the ban on the use of organochlorine pesticides （OCPs） such as dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane （DDT） and hexachlorocyclohexane（HCH） in agriculture, their levels have generally dropped. In a number of cases, however, the levels of these OCPs were found to be unchanging or even increasing after the ban. With the aim to unveil the possible causes of these exceptions, we collected two lake cores from King George Island, West Antarctica, and determined their accumulation flux profiles and temporal trends of these OCPs. In the lake core sediments with glacier meltwater input, the accumulation flux of DDT shows an abnormal peak around 1980s in addition to the expected one in 1960s. In the lake core sediments without glacier meltwater input, the accumulation flux of DDT shows a gradual decline trend after the peak in 1960s. This striking difference in the DDT flux profiles between the two lake cores is most likely caused by the regional climate warming and the resulted discharge of the DDT stored in the Antarctic ice cap into the lakes in the Antarctic glacier frontier. Furthermore, to investigate the change of OCPs loadings in the Antarctic coastal ecosystem, we reconstructed the HCH and DDT concentration profiles in penguin droppings and observed a gradual increase for the former and a continuous decrease for the latter during the past 50 years. The increase of HCH seems to be due to the regional warming from the early 1970s and the resulted HCH discharge to the coastal ecosystem by glaciers＇ meltwater and the illegal use of HCH in the Southern Hemisphere in the recent decade. The different temporal trends of HCH and DDT accumulation rate in the lake core with glacier meltwater input and the aged penguin droppings can be explained by their different water-soluble property.

Gridded inventories of historical usage for selected organochlorine pesticides in Heilongjiang River Basin, China

The use of technical HCH （1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-hexachlorocyclohexane）, DDT （dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane） and lindane in Heilongjiang River Basin （HRB） of China was studied. Between 1952 and 1984 the total usage in the HRB was 108900 t for technical HCH, and 4900 t for DDT, respectively, and the use of DDT due to dicofol application in the HRB was 220 t from 1984 to 2003. The usage of lindane in HRB was 109 t from 1991 to 2000. The results show that the highest technical HCH use （41800 t） in HRB was on maize, accounting for 38.3% of the total usage on all crops, followed by the use on wheat （28000 t, 25.7%） and on soybean （26600 t, 24.4%）. The highest DDT use （2300 t） was on soybean, accounting for 46.8% of the total usage on all crops, followed by the use on maize （1500 t, 31.3%） and on sorghum （600 t, 13.2%）. The major use of lindane was mainly on wheat. Gridded usage inventories of these three OCPs （organochlorine pesticides）, in HRB with a 1/6° latitude by 1/4° longitude resolution have been created by using different gridded cropland as surrogates. Some soil samples have also been collected in HRB. Data of usage and soil concentrations of 5： HCH in HRB match quite well to those in Shanghai region, and much higher soil concentration of 5： DDT in Shanghai region could be due to much heavier dicofol use in this region.

Residues of organochlorine pesticides in intertidal flat surface sediments from coastal zone of Jiangsu Province, China

Sixteen surface sediment samples were collected and analysed to evaluate the residues of organochlorine pesticides （OCPs） from intertidal fiat in Jiangsu Province. Overall, 22 OCPs were detected with total concentrations of OCPs ranging widely from 0.96 to 12.14 ng/g （dry wt）. Total hexachlorocyclohexane （HCH） and total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane （DDT） levels varied from 〈0.01 to 0.67 ng/g and from 0.23 to 4.85 ng/g, respectively. DDTs were the predominant compounds. The dominance of β-HCH indicated a history of HCH pollution. According to the ratios of （p,p＇-DDD＋p,p＇-DDE）/p,p＇DDT and o,p＇-DDT/p,p＇- DDT, new input of DDTs did not occur in most sites, and the main sources were historical usage of technical DDTs. OCPs such as dieldrin, endrin, p,p＇-DDD, and p,p＇-DDT exceeded the effects range low, showing adverse biological effects that would occasionally occur at some sites of the study area.

Soil concentrations and soil-air exchange of organochlorine pesticides along the Aba profile, east of the Tibetan Plateau, western China

Mianzhu--Aba profile, east of the Tibetan Plateau, was selected to study the occurrence of organo- chlorine pesticides （OCPs） along an altitudinal gradient. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes （DDTs）, hexachlorocy- clohexanes （HCHs） and Aldrin, Dieldrin and Endrin （Drins） in surface soils were detected in winter （March） and summer （July）. Soil concentrations （ng.g-1, dw） in winter and summer ranged as follws： DDTs, 0.37-179.16 and 0.32-42.57; HCHs, 0.14-10.76 and 0.55-32.71; Drins, N.D-3.99 and 0.02-6.93, respectively. Main soil OCPs were p,p＇-DDT, p,p＇-DDE, fl-HCH and Drins, among which Drins were rarely reported in current literature of the Tibetan Plateau. Higher OCP concentra- tions in the profile were attributed close to the agricultural fields of the Sichuan Basin, current lindane and non- dicofol DDTs inputs, and also long-range atmospheric transport from abroad. Soil OCP concentrations underwent obvious seasonal variation, with higher DDTs in winter and higher HCHs and Drins in summer. It may be caused by climatic conditions, summer monsoon type, and physico-chemical properties of such contaminants. Though ＂rest＂ phenomenon occurred in some sampling sites, HCHs and Drins showed an increasing trend with increasing altitude, while DDTs showed an evident decrease with increasing altitude. The altitudinal distribu- tions of OCPs were all consistent with previous findings in other mountainous regions. A primary fugacity analysis on OCPs soil-air exchange indicated that the profile may be secondary sources for HCHs and Endrin. As with Aldrin,Dieldrin, and DDTs, the profile may be both secondary sources and sinks.

Organochlorine pesticide residues in surface water from Sichuan Basin to Aba Prefecture profile, east of the Tibetan Plateau

Organochlorine pesticides （OCPs） found in rivers from the Sichuan Basin to Aba Prefectttre profile were analyzed to assess possible health risks to adults and children who use the river as a source of drinking water. OCP concentrations in surface water ranged between 22.29-274.28 ng·L^-1. Compared with other published data around the world, OCP levels in this study were moderate. Among all OCPs, hexachlorobenzene （HCB） and hexa- chlorocyclohexanes （HCHs） were the predominant com- pounds. Higher concentrations of OCPs were attributed close to the agricultural fields of the Sichuan Basin, current OCPs inputs, and long-range atmospheric transport from abroad. Various spatial patterns of OCPs in the profile might be affected by the usage and physicochemical properties of the pesticides, in addition to the adjacent geographical environment. The health risk assessment indicated that most OCPs had little impact on human health according to the acceptable risk level for carcino- gens （10^-6） recommended by the US EPA. However, carcinogenic effects caused by heptachlor, Aldrin, HCB, and a-HCH might occur in drinking water. The risk of negative impacts caused by OCPs is much higher for children than for adults.

A novel method through solid phase extraction combined with gradient elution for concentration and separation of 66(ultra)trace persistent toxic pollutants in Antarctic waters

This study developed a method to perform the simultaneous concentration and selective separation of 66 （ultra） trace persistent toxic substances in Antarctic waters. The substances included 30 polychlorinated biphenyls, 17 organochlorine pesticides, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 3 hexabromocyclododecanes. Solid phase extraction was performed using a C18 membrane and silica gel column. Gradient elution was conducted using organic solvents with different polarities; as a result, the efficiency of the C18 film is improved and the interferences from impurities and target compounds are eliminated. Extracts were subsequently analyzed through gas chromatography or liquid and gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Method validation yielded the following values： recoveries of all target analytes in the Antarctic water ranged from 87.3% to 117.6% and reproducibility as percent relative standard deviation was lower than 5%. Quantification limits ranged from 0.004 μg L^-1 to 0.030 μg L^-1. The established method improved the recoveries and reduced the limits of detection. Results indicated the method exhibited good performance in the simultaneous concentration and selective separation of 66 （ultra） trace organic pollutants; Therefore, the proposed sample pretreatment can potentially eliminate the effects of various classes of impurities to some extent.