Abstract
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 hexachlorocy-clohexane (HCH) compounds, β-HCH was found to be the most important isomer. The analysis of 1, 1, 1-trichloro-2, 2-bis-chlorophyenyl-ethane (DDT) and its metabolites showed that 1, 1-dichloro-2 [o-chloropheny1]-2 [p-chlorophenyl]-ethylene (DDE) was dominant in the group.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 153-160 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Chemical Research in Chinese Universities |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - May 2002 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- DDT
- Jiulong River Estuary
- Lindane
- Minjiang River Estuary
- Organochlorine insecticides
- Pearl River Estuary
- Sediment
- Water
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry