Persistent Organochlorine Pesticides in River Waters of Southern Part of Okinawa Island, Japan

¹ Marine and Environmental Science, Graduate School of Engineering and Science University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru 1, Nishihara-cho, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan

² Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment Water Pollution Section 2085 Ozato, Ozato Nanjo-shi, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan

³ Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, University of the Ryukyus Senbaru 1, Nishihara-cho, Okinawa 903-0213. Japan

AJWEP 2007, 4(2), 37–42; https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW-2007-4_2_06

Submitted: 11 May 2006 | Accepted: 21 February 2007 | Published: 1 January 2007

© 2007 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )

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Abstract

We investigated eight organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the rivers of southern part of Okinawa Island, Japan, from July to September 2005. The mean concentration for SBHC (a, b, g, d-BHC) in four rivers was 25.67 ± 58 ngL–1(mean ± SD). The highest concentration of BHC detected in water samples was 49.10 ngL–1. Other OCPs such as Aldrin, Dieldrin, Heptachlor epoxide (Isomer B) and Methoxychlor were also detected in most water samples with their mean concentrations of 6.96 ± 80, 4.33 ± 59.9, 3.16 ± 55 and 2.01 ± 57.6 ngL–1. Within the monitoring period, the concentration of OCPs increases in July and August (Aldrin, a-BHC and b-BHC). The possible sources of these OCPs might be the effluents and dusts from residential areas and agricultural activities. The levels of OCPs in rivers in southern part of Okinawa were generally below the guideline values in Japan. This preliminary documentation of OCPs in river waters from southern part of Okinawa Island revealed that the rivers are lightly contaminated and suggesting more monitoring studies in order to protect the health of aquatic systems and accompanied life.

Keywords

River waters

organochlorine pesticides

Okinawa Island

Conflict of interest

The authors declare they have no competing interests.

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