title: Organochlorine pesticides in surface soils from obsolete pesticide dumping ground in Hyderabad City, Pakistan: contamination levels and their potential for air-soil exchange.
abstract: This study was conducted to examine organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) contamination levels in the surface soil and air samples together with air-soil exchange fluxes at an obsolete pesticide dumping ground and the associated areas from Hyderabad City, Pakistan. Among all the sampling sites, concentrations of OCPs in the soil and air samples were found highest in obsolete pesticide dumping ground, whereas dominant contaminants were dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDTs) (soil: 77-212,200 ng g(-1); air: 90,700 pg m(-3)) and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCHs) (soil: 43-4,090 ng g(-1); air: 97,400 pg m(-3)) followed by chlordane, heptachlor and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). OCPs diagnostic indicative ratios reflect historical use as well as fresh input in the study area. Moreover, the air and soil fugacity ratios (0.9-1.0) at the dumping ground reflecting a tendency towards net volatilization of OCPs, while at the other sampling sites, the fugacity ratios indicate in some cases deposition and in other cases volatilization. Elevated concentrations of DDTs and HCHs at pesticide dumping ground and its surroundings pose potential exposure risk to biological organisms, to the safety of agricultural products and to the human health. Our study thus emphasizes the need of spatio-temporal monitoring of OCPs at local and regional scale to assess and remediate the future adverse implications.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ambreen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alamdar
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Jabir Hussain
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan. Electronic address: r_n_malik2000@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Riffat Naseem
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: NILU-FRAM High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, Hjalmar Johansensgt. 14, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katsoyiannis
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Junwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Gan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Chemical Managements, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis*; D010154:Pakistan; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014835:Volatilization; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Air–soil exchange; Hyderabad City; OCPs; Obsolete pesticide burial ground; Pakistan