Organophosphate Pesticide Concentrations in Coral Tissues of Indonesian Coastal Waters

Abstract

In this study we evaluated the persistence of diazinon, chlorpyrifos, profenofos, parathion, malathion and ethion in dead coral tissues of Indonesian coastal waters (Java, Bali, Sulawesi and Komodo). Comparison of the residue levels in coral tissues showed that the highest presence of organophosphate concentrations was detected in a coral sample collected from Java coastal waters. While medium amounts of a contaminant diazinon can still lead to detectable in Bali and Sulawesi coastal waters. Prominent contamination of organophosphate was not found in a sample collected from Komodo. Neither parathion nor malathion were detected in any of the samples. This result implies that the geographical variations of organophosphate compounds are determined by the possible usage of these chemicals around coastal waters at the present or in the past. There is need for further work to identify sources and fate of pesticide contaminants, as well as to improve monitoring of pesticide use.