Composition, Distribution, and Risk Assessment of Organochlorine Pesticides in Drinking Water Sources in South China

Abstract

Samples were collected from nine drinking water sources in south China and were analyzed for concentrations of 15 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The average concentrations of total OCPs were in the range of 12.9–43.0 ng L\(^{-1}\) with an overall average of 25.7 ng L\(^{-1}\). The concentrations of HCHs (\(\upalpha \)-HCH, \(\upbeta \)-HCH, \(\upgamma \)-HCH, \(\updelta \)-HCH) and DDTs (p,\(p^\prime \)-DDD, p,\(p^\prime \)-DDT, p,\(p^\prime \)-DDE) were in the range of 5.54–13.08 and 0.17–4.47 ng L\(^{-1}\), respectively. HCHs, endrin-aldehyde, methoxychlor and endrin were the most dominant in all samples. The input of HCHs was a mixture of technical HCH and lindane, while the DDT may be mainly derived from DDT-treated aged and weathered agricultural soils. Health risk assessment of DDTs and HCHs suggested that water quality from nine drinking water sources in south China was safe for human drinking.