Contamination by organochlorine pesticides from rivers

The contamination of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) from the selected rivers in Okinawa Island was investigated to estimate the current status of pollution in water, plants and surface sediments in these rivers. The Aja River, Asato River, Houtoku River, Kokuba River and Okukubi River were selected for this study. The concentration of the total pesticides were in the range of 0.94-231.8 ng/L in river water, 0.006–191.6 ng/L dry weight in river sediments and 0.001–55.8 ng/L dry weight in plants. Among the OCPs, ΣHCB of α-BHC,β-BHC and Aldrin were the common detected compounds in river water. The α-BHC, Aldrin and Dieldrin were the most frequent detected compounds in river sediments and α-BHC and Dieldrin were the common OCPs detected in plants. Aldrin, Dieldrin and ΣHCB were in abundance. Various contamination patterns between the selected river water, sediments and plants were observed. Aja River, Asato River and Houtoku River were contaminated with α,β,δ,γ- BHC, Aldrin and Dieldrin (water and sediments) whereas the main OCPs in Kokuba River and Okukubi River were Dieldrin (plants) The OCPs levels in all rivers were generally below guideline values in Japan, but some sites displayed levels which exceeded the EC and WHO Standards for Aldrin, Dieldrin and α,β-BHC.