Increase in Organochlorine Contaminant Levels in Major Water Sources of the United States in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Organochlorine contaminants, such as triclosan (TCS), are present in major water sources across the United States. These antimicrobial compounds are widely used as multipurpose ingredients in everyday consumer products. They can be ingested or absorbed through the skin and are found in human blood, breast milk, and urine samples. Studies have shown that the increased use of antimicrobial agents leads to their presence and persistence in the ecosystem, particularly in soil and watersheds. Many studies have highlighted emerging concerns associated with the overuse of TCS, including dermal irritations, a higher incidence of antibacterial-related allergies, microbial resistance, disruptions in the endocrine system, altered thyroid hormone activity, metabolism, and tumor metastasis and growth. Organochlorine contaminant exposures play a role in inflammatory responsiveness, and any unwarranted innate response could lead to adverse outcomes. The capacity of TCS and other organochlorine contaminants to induce inflammation, resulting in persistent and chronic inflammation, is linked to various pathologies, such as cardiovascular disease and several types of cancers. Chronic inflammation presents a severe consequence of exposure to these antimicrobial agents, as any changes could result in the loss of immune competence. Organochlorine contaminant levels were established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2019-2020 and have consistently increased in response to the novel coronavirus (nCoV) (COVID-19) pandemic. Our previous research examined the overuse of products containing triclosan (TCS), which led to an increase in total trihalomethane (TTHM) levels affecting the quality of our water supply. We also investigated the impact of the FDA ban that now requires pre-market approval. To comprehend the consequences of excessive antimicrobial use on water quality, we conducted an analysis of the levels of total trichloromethane (chloroform), a byproduct of free chlorine added to TCS, in primary water sources in metropolitan areas across the United States in 2019-2020. We repeated this analysis after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021-2022 to examine its correlation with organochlorine exposure. Our study found that the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the increased use of antimicrobial products, has significantly raised the levels of total trihalomethanes compared to those reported in water quality reports from 2019-2020, in contrast to the reports from 2021-2022.

Study on Detection of Organochlorine Pesticide Residue in Ginseng

To investigate the residue situation of pesticides in ginseng, total 17 samples of ginseng-growing soil, ginseng roots and ginseng seeds were collected from 5 regions of Fusong County, and the contents of organochlorine pesticide residues in the samples were detected by using ultrasonic-assisted extraction and gas chromatography with acetone-ligroin as the solvent, thereby providing suitable recommendations and scientific basis for the selection of ginseng-growing soil.

Advances in Analytical Techniques for Organochlorine Pesticide Detection in Tea Samples

The pretreatment and analytical techniques for organochiorine residues, including ultrasonic extraction, accelerated solvent extraction pesticide microwave extraction, solid phase extraction, and solid-phase micro-extraction and the analytical techniques of gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry）in tea samples in recent years were reviewed. The prospect of organochlorine pesti- cide residue analysis was proposed in this paper.

Potentialities of Maize on the Removal of Organochlorine Pesticides from Contaminated Soils

In this paper, glasshouse experiments were conducted to determine the accumulation, distribution and transformation of DDTs and HCHs by maize under pot culture conditions. The culture soil was spiked with the organic pollutants and samples were collected in different durations. Analysis of the plants at harvest showed that the selected plant varied widely in their ability to remove and translo- cate DDTs and HCHs from the soil, the bioconcentration factor ranged from 0.004 to 0.027 for the shoot and from 0.036 to 0.097 for the roots, and the translocation factors were lower than 0.1 with variation between DDTs and HCHs, but no signifi- cant differences were observed. DDTs appeared to have accumulated by both pas- sive adsorption and active absorption, p,p＇-DDT and p,p＇-DDE were the major metabolite and the transformation was mediated by reductive dehalogenation, the affinity of the OCPs for lipids is one of the major factors affecting their uptake and translocation within the plants.

Organochlorines in sediments and mussels collected from coastal sites along the Pearl River Delta, South China

The level and pattern of residues of organochlorine pesticide and polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) were analyzed in sediment and mussel(Perna viridis) samples from ten coastal sites along the Pearl River Delta, South China. The range of total HCH was <0 01 to 0 29 ng/g freeze-dried weight in sediment, and <0 0 1 to 1 35 ng/g lipid weight in mussels. Average total DDTs concentrations ranged from <0 01 to 1 04 ng/g in sediment, and <0 01 to 148 5 ng/g in mussels . Average total PCB concentrations ranged from 16 4 to 198 6 ng/g in sediment, and from 41 to 729.2 ng/g in mussels. Organochlorine pesticide and PCBs in mussels and sediments presented similar distribution patterns. The regression analysis indicated that PCBs concentrations in mussels were significantly correlated(p<0 01) with concentrations in sediments. However, their concentrations in mussels were several times higher than the concentration detected in surrounding sediments. The major fraction of DDT related compounds measured in mussels and sediments was DDD. Based on average PCB concentrations, penta-, hexa-, and tetrachlorobiphenyls were preferentially accumulated by mussels as compared to the average sediment composition. According to the present results,three organochlorine polluted “hot spot' sites, including Victoria Harbour, Lingding Yang and Huangmao Sea, were found in the Pearl River estuarine zone. HCHs, DDTs and PCBs in all mussel samples were below the limits of 2, 0 2 and 5 0 μg/g wet weight recommended by the Technical Group of Guangdong Coastal Zone Resource Comprehensive Survey and U. S. Food and Drug Administration.

Contamination by Organochlorine Pesticides in the Estuaries of Southeast China

Persistent organic pollutants(POPs) such as organochlorine pesticides are of global concern due to their widespread occurrence and persistence. This paper reports recent research studying the distribution and fate of organochlorine pesticides in the Jiulong River, the Minjiang River and the Pearl River estuaries in Southeast China. Eighteen organochlorine pesticides were extracted from water, pore water and sediment samples, followed by analysis by GC ECD. The results showed that the contamination levels were similar in these three estuaries. The levels of the total organochlorine pesticides in porewater were significantly higher than those in surface water, due to the high affinity of these hydrophobic compounds for sediment phase. Among the hexachlorocyclohexane(HCH) compounds, β HCH was found to be the most important isomer. The analysis of 1,1,1 trichloro 2,2 bis chlorophenyl ethane(DDT) and its metabolites showed that 1,1 dichloro 2[ o chlorophenyl] 2[ p chlorophenyl] ethylene(DDE) was dominant in the group.

Residual Characteristics of Organochlorine Pesticides in Lou Soils with Different Fertilization Modes

Soll samples with three fertilization treatments （no fertilizer, corn straw and farm manure） collected from a Lou soil （Eum-orthic Anthrosol classfied using Chinese Soil Taxonomy） in northwestern China were analysed for residual levels and their characteristics of organochlorine pesticides （α-HCH, β-HCH,γ-HCH, δ-HCH, HCB, o, p＇-DDT, p, p＇-DDT, o, p＇- DDE, p,p＇-DDE, p,p＇-DDD, α-endosulfan, dieldrin and endrin）. Organochlorine pesticides （OCPs） were detected in all soil samples except δ-HCH and their total concentrations ranged from 159.31 ± 9.00 to 179.77 ± 2.58 ng g^-1 with an order of HCHs 〉 DDTs 〉 （dieldrin ＋ endrin） 〉 HCB 〉 α-endosulfan. Among all the compounds, γ-HCH had the highest concentration followed by p, p＇-DDE. The residual levels of HCH isomers and DDT as well as their metabolites in soil with different fertilization treatments were in the order of γ-HCH 〉β-HCH ≈ α-HCH 〉 δ-HCH and p,p’-DDE 〉 p, p’-DDT 〉 o,p＇-DDT 〉 p, p＇-DDD ≈ o, p＇-DDE, respectively. DDE/DDT ratios ranged from 1.59 ± 0.13 to 3.35± 0.16 and endrin/dieldrin ratios from 1.40 ±0.06 to 9.20± 4.05, both indicating no new occurrence of these pesticides in these soils, while α-HCH/γ-HCH ratios of 0.04 indicated a new input of lindane （almost pure γ-HCH） in the past several years. The farm manure treatments showed lower DDT residues than samples without fertilizer. Also addition of corn straw and farm manure increased soil organic matter content and decreased the soil pH which could retard the degradation of DDT in the soil.

Extraction of Organochlorine Pesticides in Sediments Using Soxhlet,Ultrasonic and Accelerated Solvent Extraction Techniques

The application of soxhlet, ultrasonic and accelerated solvent extractiontechniques to the analysis of six organochlorine pesticides (α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, o, p'-DDT,p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE) in Taihu Lake sediment samples is described. It was found that the limits ofquantification ranged from 0.002 μg g^(-1) to 0.004 μg g^(-1), and the recoveries oforganochlorine pesticides with the three extraction techniques were acceptable ( 】80.7%). With amass selective detector, better results were obtained by accelerated solvent extraction usinghexane-acetone (1:1) as compared with soxhlet and ultrasonic extraction. It was shown that theaccelerated solvent extraction was the optimum technique for the analysis of organochlorinepesticides in sediments. The general features of the three extraction techniques are also presented.

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.

Organochlorine pesticide and heavy metal residues in some edible biota collected from Quanzhou Bay and Xinghua Bay,Southeast China

In order to assess the contamination of edible marine organisms in Quanzhou and Xinghua Bays, Fujian Province, China, concentrations of organochlorine pesticides （hexachlorocyclohexane isomers or HCHs and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane isomers/derivatives or DDTs） and heavy metals （Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Cr, Cd, Ni and Hg） in 13 species collected from different sites in the hays were analyzed by GC-ECD and ICP-MS. The concentration of the sum of DDTs exceeded that the sum of HCHs in the samples. Most of the organisms showed higher levels of DDTs than the first level criterion （10 ng/g） for marine biological quality in China （GB 18421-2001） but conformed to the first level criterion （20 ng/g） for HCHs. The estimated mean daily uptake of pesticides was below the level for minimal risk to the consumers. The levels of Cd, As and Pb in most organisms from both bays were markedly elevated and above the recommended legal limits for human consumption. Our results showed the need for routine monitoring of marine species contamination to ensure public and environmental health.

Reduction of recruitment of Acartia pacifica nauplii from benthic resting eggs due to organochlorine pesticides

Many estuarine and coastal planktonic copepods depend on the hatching of benthic resting eggs for recruitment ofnauplii to the water column population. The potential effects of two organochlorine pesticides, hexchloriobinzene （HCH） and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane （DDT）, on the recruitment of A ccu＇tla pacifica nauplii from benthic resting eggs in the seabed of Xiamen Bay were experimentally investigated. The abundance of A. pacifica nauplii hatched from the sediment significantly decreased with the increase of pesticide concentration. Trimmed Spearman-Karber analysis gave sediment 96-h LC50 values were 84.81 ng/g for HCH, and 157.94 ng/g for DDT. The median AI （Al50） was -0.77, which suggested that the combined effect of riCH and DDT showed a weak effect than individual effects. There was a positive relationship between mortality and exposure time in DDT treatment, while the relationship was not significant in HCH treatment. The results suggest that organochlorine pesticides can reduce recruitment of A. pacifica nauplii from benthic resting eggs to planktonic population.

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...

Determination of Organochlorine and Nitrogen Containing Pesticide Residues in Water,Sediments and Fish Samples by Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatograph

With high performance liquid chromatography, the concentrations of α-endosulfan, DDE, parathion methyl, isoproturon, atrazine, carbaryl and carbofuran were determined in farmed raised fish Labeo rohita of two weight groups. All these pesticide residues were detected in fish meat samples. All these pesticide residues except isoproturon were identified in soil sediments, whereas all these pesticide residues except isoproturon, carbaryl and DDE were also present in water samples. DDT, heptachlor, β-endosulfan, chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, captan, cypermethrin, chlorobromuron and chlorotoluron were absent in all samples of water, sediments and fish flesh. The pesticide residues levels were in order of parathion methyl 〉 DDE 〉 carbofuran 〉 atrazine 〉 α-endosulfan 〉 isoproturan 〉 carbaryl. The concentrations of pesticides were higher in fish weighing 800 -1 300 g than in those weighing 250 -750 g. The DDE was remained highest in sediments, while that was not detected in water samples. The pesticides （endosulfan, parathion methyl, atrazine and carbofuran） had crossed their MRL values （0.001 μg/g） in water samples.

Dynamic microwave-assisted extraction combined with liquid phase microextraction based on the solidification of a floating drop for the analysis of organochlorine pesticides in grains followed by GC

A convenient,cost-effective and fast method using dynamic microwave-assisted extraction and liquid phase microextraction based on the solidification of a floating drop was proposed to analyze organochlorine pesticides in grains including rice,maize and millet.Twelve samples can be processed simultaneously in the method.During the extraction process,10%acetonitrile-water solutions containing 110μL of n-hexadecane were used to extract organochlorine pesticides.Subsequently,1.0 g sodium chloride was placed in the extract,and then centrifuged and cooled.The n-hexadecane drops containing the analytes were solidifi ed and transferred for determination by gas chromatography-electron capture detector without any further filtration or cleaning process.Limits of detection for organochlorine pesticides were 0.97–1.01μg/kg and the RSDs were in the range of 2.6%–8.5%.The developed technology has succeeded in analyzing six real grains samples and the recoveries of the organochlorine pesticides were 72.2%–94.3%.Compared with the published extraction methods,the developed method was used to analyze organochlorine pesticides in grains,being more environmentally friendly,which is suitable for the daily determination of organochlorine pesticides.

Concentrations and distribution of organochlorine pesticides in shellfish from Changjiang estuary

To analyze and evaluate the status of organochlorine pollutants in the Changjiang （Yangtze River） estuary and adjacent waters, the concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexane （HCHs） and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane （DDTs） in shellfish collected in study area from 2006 to 2007 were determined with gas chromatography （GC）. The concentration range of HCHs was （ND-12.13）×10^-3 mg/kg wet weight and averaged at 0.54×10^-3 mg/kg while the concentration of DDTs was in the range of （4.06-281.73） ×10^-3 mg/kg with a mean of 57.52×10^-3 mg/kg in the survey areas. The concentrations of DDTs in the shellfish were higher than HCHs＇, so that DDTs could be considered as typical organochlorine pollutants in the areas. The concentrations of DDTs in the shellfish were higher than HCHs＇, so that DDTs could be considered as typical organochlorines pollutants. The HCHs in all the shellfish conformed to the first level of criterion （0.02 mg/kg） of the Marion Biology Quality （GB 18421-2001）, and that of DDTs in most samples were beyond the first level （0.01 mg/kg） but conformed to the second level （0.10 mg/kg）. On average, α-HCH and δ-HCH occupied the most part of HCHs, while O,P＇-DDT and P,P＇-DDT occupied the most part of DDTs. The concentrations of organocholorine pesticides in shellfish samples varied in site and in species. The highest level occurred at the Shengsi （SS）, followed by Yangkougang （YKG）, Lvsi （LS）, Dongyuan （DY） and Beibayao （BBY）, low concentrations were observed at Changsha （CS）, Beidaodi （BDD）, and Gouqi （GQ）. The concentration of HCHs and DDTs in most sites decreased clearly from 2006 to 2007 except for YKG, DY, BDD, LYS, and SS. All of above results suggested that the study area was slightly affected by organochlorine pesticide, special by DDTs.

Distribution of organochlorine compounds in water, porewater and sediments in Xiamen Harbour

The Concentrations of 18 organochlorine pesticides and 12 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in water, porewater and sediments from the Xiamen Harbour were analyzed quantitatively. It shows that, the levels of all organochlorine insecticides varied from 6. 60 to 19 .6 ng/dm3 (in water), 11. 9-78. 5 ng/dm3(in porewater) and not detected (ND) - 0. 58 ng/g dry weight (in sediments), and those of total DDTs were in the range ND - 0. 06 ng/g dry weight. Concentrations of PCBs and in- secticides in porewater were higher than in surface water, due to the higher affinity of these hydrophobic compound for sedimentary phase than to water. It implies there would be a potential flux of pollutants from sediments to overlying water. Compared with the concentrations of these pollutants measured in the Xiamen Harbour in 1993, it is one to several magnitude order lower, which suggests their inputs have been decreased in recent years and possible degradation of these compounds. The levels of these pollutants were also compared with other estuaries.

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.

Distribution of persistent organochlorine pesticides in tissue/organ of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) from Guanting Reservoir, China

The concentration of organochlorine pesticides（OCPs） in tissues and organs of silver carp（Hypophthalmichthys mofitrix） from Guanting Reservoir were investigated to evaluate the pollution potential and distribution of OCPs. A total of 16 OCPs were measured and the concentrations were in the range of 1.61-69.01 ng/g wet weight（ww） for total OCPs, 0.16- 0.75 ng/g ww for HCB. 0.75 -26.80 ng/g ww for SHCH（sum of α-,β-, γ- and δ-HCH） and 0.68-35.94 ng/g ww for SDDT（ sum of p, p＇-DDE, p, p＇-DDD, o, p＇-DDT and p, p＇- DDT）. The mean concentrations of total OCPs, HCB, ∑HCH, and ∑DDT were 18.04, 0.96, 7.14 and 9.28 ng/g ww, respectively. Among the organochlorine pesticides, β-HCH and p, p＇-DDE were the most dominant compounds in tissue and organ with the average concentrations of 4.42 and 8.14 ng/g, respectively. The results obtained in this study show that the levels of 16 OCP residues found in silver carps are low and pose no threat to human health and wildlife fed upon them on the basis of existing related quality guidelines. However, recent input of lindane and DDT might still exist in the area investigated and further investigation should be carried on.

Effective Organochlorine Pesticides Removal from Aqueous Systems by Magnetic Nanospheres Coated with Polystyrene

In this paper, magnetic nanospheres coated with polystyrene （Fe3O4@PS） were prepared for the removal of organochlorine pesticides from aqueous solutions. The obtained Fe3O4@PS was round shape with diameter of 55±11 nm. The VSM results illustrated that its higher saturated magnetization was 36.76 emu g^-1 and it could be easily separated from aqueous solutions with a permanent magnet. The adsorption results showed that pesticides could be effectively adsorbed and the adsorption equilibrium time was less than 20 mins. The pseudo-second-order model was suitable to describe the adsorption kinetics. Compared with the Freundlich adsorption model, the adsorption data fitted well with Langmuir model. The effect of salinity and humic acid was also studied and the results illustrated that they could be neglected under optimized conditions. The asobtained sorbent showed a good performance with more than 93.3% pesticides removal in treating actual water samples.

Isolation of Organochlorine Pesticide from Ginseng with Supercritical CO_2

The feasibility of removal of the organochlorine pesticides residues of hexachlorocyclohexane(BHC) from radix ginseng with supercritical CO2 was explored. Some factors, such as extraction pressure, extraction temperature, and kinds of co-solvents were investigated. The experimental results indicate that it is possible to reduce BHC residues in radix ginseng to the level of 0.1 × 10^-6 with supercritical CO2 in the presence of suitable amount of co-solvent, such as water.