Delayed environmental pollution caused by transient landscape storage - An example from the Lesser Antilles

The strong pest pressure on intensive banana cultivation in the French West Indies led to the intensive use of chlordecone (an organochlorine insecticide) between 1972 and 1993. Due to its high toxicity for the population and the environment, many studies were conducted on the transfer of chlordecone over the last 20 years. However, most studies focused on the dissolved fraction of chlordecone, while the particle-bound fraction was understudied. Therefore, this study reconstructs pluri-decadal erosion rates ( 1980–2023) and associated chlordecone particle-bound transfers from soil and sediment cores sampled in a cultivated headwater catchment (Saint-Esprit, Martinique). Based on sediment accumulation analyses in an agricultural reservoir, high erosion rates ( 10 t ha−1 yr−1) were found in the investigated catchment during the study period, with values exceeding the estimated tolerable soil loss rate in tropical contexts ( 2.2 t ha−1 yr−1). Based on the analysis of soil cores sampled along a banana plantation hillslope, this study highlights the formation of colluvial deposits with high levels of chlordecone contamination. When these areas are affected by erosion processes, this leads to massive remobilization of particle-bound chlordecone to water bodies. Indeed, in sediment sampled in the downstream reservoir, we observed a drastic increase in these transfers since 2006, synchronous with changes in agricultural practices. This study therefore highlighted the occurrence of legacy contamination at toeslope positions, which was estimated to potentially persist for 4000 to 11,000 years. Such a residence time highlights the need to implement changes in land management to effectively reduce erosion of agricultural soils, particularly in areas identified as ”temporary deposition zones” for chlordecone contamination, in order to protect downstream water bodies from chlordecone transfer. To achieve this, agricultural practices that may increase soil erosion, such as herbicide application or intensive ploughing, should be minimized. Overall, this study improved our understanding of erosion and associated chlordecone transfers in tropical environments.