Pesticide Residues in Soil from the Jordan Valley, Jordan
2002
Al-Mughrabi, K. I. | Qrunfleh, I. M.
The presence of pesticide residues in soil is a matter of serious concern as many compounds have been shown to produce adverse effects. Extensive use of pesticides of all kinds has created some severe problems related to pesticide residues in soil, pest resistance to pesticides, and health hazards. In surveys of pesticide residues in soil, water, sediment, fish and shellfish in Thailand, Tayaputch (1996) found several organochlorine pesticides, some of which are no longer in use, and some organophosphorous pesticides at trace concentrations in environmental samples.The Agricultural Research Station of Al-Balga’ Applied University is located at Humrat Al-Sahn and extends to about 1,000 ha. Elevation ranges from 200 m below sea level at King Abdallah Canal, to 440 m above sea level in the northern part. Meteorologically, the station is divided into two parts: the upper part “SubValley Weather”, and the lower part “Valley Weather”. Bedouins have lived in the region for about 40 yr, depending on raising livestock for a living. They have been using various types of pesticides at various concentrations for public health purposes (Ministry of Agriculture, personal communication). Pesticide application and amounts applied were in some cases done by the Bedouins themselves without any knowledge of the appropriate amounts to be applied and the proper way of application. DDT had been used for extended periods of time to control mosquitoes and prevent the onset of malaria in this location. DDT is very highly persistent in the environment, with a reported half-life of between 2–15 yr (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1989; Augustijn-Beckers et al. 1994). Also from the organochlorine chemical class, dicofol is considered moderately persistent in soil. Chlorothalonil, a chlorophenyl fungicide, is reported to be moderately persistent in soil with half-life 1–3 mon. Permethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide, is of low to moderate persistence in the soil environment, with reported half-life of 30–38 d (Kidd et al. 1991; Wauchope et al. 1992).Since the soil perhaps serves as the largest environmental reservoir of pesticides (Matsumura and Krishna-Murti 1982), and because in some cases pesticides were applied without supervision by Bedouins living at Humrat Al-Sahn, this survey was conducted on soil samples from five selected sites in order to assess the situation and identify pesticides present and their levels in soil.
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