Evaluation of organochlorine pesticide residues in soil and plants from East Europe and Central Asia

Abstract

Agriculture products such as cereals, fruit, and vegetables are often found to be contaminated with residues of persistent pesticides and other toxic substances. The major source of entry of these compounds to food chain is the contaminated soil. Therefore, the status of the residue level of most persistent organochlorinated pesticides (OCP) in soil and agricultural crops should be monitored regularly. The frequency of occurrence and contamination levels of OCP residues in samples of soils, cereals, fruit and vegetables from different geographical regions such as Central Asia and East Europe were determined. The samples of soil, fruit (black currant), vegetables (beans, carrots, celery, cucumbers, lupine, parsley, and tomatoes) and cereals collected from Kazakhstan and Poland contained residues of different OCPs like aldrine, dieldrine, hexachlorocyclohexane isomers and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) complex. Endosulfan and dicofol were also found in some samples in the concentration ranging from 0.008 to 0.8 mg/kg, particularly in samples of tomatoes from Kazakhstan. In the samples of the soil taken from Polish and Kazakhs farms, DDT and metabolites were detected. In the case of DDT complex, i.e. DDD, DDE, and DDT, the concentration ranged between 0.005 and 0.542 mg/kg and the pp′ isomers were more frequently encountered than their op′ counterparts.