Sources, atmospheric transport and deposition mechanism of organochlorine pesticides in soils of the Tibetan Plateau.
Because of mountain cold-trapping, the soil in the Tibetan Plateau may be an important global sink of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). However, there are limited data on OCPs in the soils of the Tibetan Plateau. In addition, the atmospheric transport and deposition mechanisms of OCPs also need to be further studied. In this study, the sampling area covered most regions of the Tibetan Plateau. The detection frequencies of ΣChlordane (sum of trans-chlordane, cis-chlordane and oxychlordane), HCB, ΣNonachlor (sum of trans- and cis-nonachlor), DDTs, ΣEndo (sum of endosulfan-I, endosulfan-II and endosulfate), aldrin, HCHs, ΣHeptachlor (sum of heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide), mirex and dieldrin were 100%, 98.3%, 96.6%, 94.8%, 89.7%, 87.9%, 62.1%, 55.2%, 32.8% and 6.9%, respectively. DDTs (with arithmetic mean values of 1050ngkg-1dw) and HCHs (393ngkg-1) were the principal OCPs in cultivated soils, whereas ΣEndo (192ngkg-1) and ΣChlordane (152ngkg-1) were the principal OCPs in non-cultivated soils. Local use of DDTs, dicofol and HCHs may be an important source of OCP accumulation in the soil of the Tibetan Plateau. Aldrin and endosulfan are considered to be good indicators for studying atmospheric transport and deposition of OCPs from South Asia and Southeast Asia. Two zones with high OCP levels were found in the southeast and northwest of the Tibetan Plateau. The zones have dissimilar pollution sources of OCPs and are influenced by different factors that affect their precipitation scavenging efficiency. The amount of precipitation was the dominant factor in the southeast, whereas large differences in temperature and wind speed were the dominant factors in the northwest.
Urban Environment and Ecology Research Center, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Guangzhou 510655, China. Electronic address: 631811743@qq.com.
Laiguo
L
Chen
Urban Environment and Ecology Research Center, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Guangzhou 510655, China.
Qianhua
Q
Feng
Center for Research on Coal Mining Safety and Coal Pollution Control, College of Environment and Safety, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (TYUST), Taiyuan 030024, China. Electronic address: heqs@tyust.edu.cn.
Qiusheng
Q
He
Urban Environment and Ecology Research Center, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Guangzhou 510655, China.
Yumei
Y
Huang
Center for Research on Coal Mining Safety and Coal Pollution Control, College of Environment and Safety, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (TYUST), Taiyuan 030024, China.
Yu
Y
Zhang
Urban Environment and Ecology Research Center, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Guangzhou 510655, China; Center for Research on Coal Mining Safety and Coal Pollution Control, College of Environment and Safety, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (TYUST), Taiyuan 030024, China.
Guo
G
Jiang
Urban Environment and Ecology Research Center, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Guangzhou 510655, China.
Wei
W
Zhao
Urban Environment and Ecology Research Center, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Guangzhou 510655, China.
Bo
B
Gao
Urban Environment and Ecology Research Center, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Guangzhou 510655, China.
Kui
K
Lin
Urban Environment and Ecology Research Center, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Guangzhou 510655, China.
Zhencheng
Z
Xu
Atmospheric transport; Deposition; Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs); Source; The Tibetan Plateau