Organophosphate Pesticides in Coastal Lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico

Guadalupe Ponce-Vélez,Guadalupe De La Lanza-Espino

doi:10.4236/jep.2019.102007

Guadalupe Ponce-Vélez, Guadalupe De La Lanza-Espino

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4236/jep.2019.102007

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Abstract

The worldwide use of semi-persistent organophosphate pesticides has become increasingly frequent and notorious. Their presence is registered in both continental and coastal waters; the latter ones are known for their subtly balanced environmental richness, difficult to recover once lost. These xenobiotics compounds reach the coastal zone through rivers that have crossed human settlements, as well as through peripheral run-off water used to exterminate agricultural pests. In Mexico, a developing country, the use of pesticides for several decades has not been adequately regulated, which is why various coastal ecosystems are the accumulation areas of these agrochemicals used in the continent. In the Gulf of Mexico, one of the coastal systems of high fishing importance for many years is the lagoon of Alvarado and receives the discharges of two great rivers, Blanco, Limon and Papaloapan, which travel more than 200 km from its source to the sea, crossing large extensions of farmland where there are also livestock activities and the use of these pesticides. For this reason, the objective of this work was to determine the presence of organophosphate pesticides in the Alvarado lagoon at the Gulf of Mexico as a potential aspect of high impact contamination. Five pesticides have been identified in the lagoon sediments, of which the most important and highest concentrations are Dimethoate and Chlorpyrifos, with 75.65 - 79.0 ng/g and 0.17 - 0.23 ng/g respectively, both internationally classified as moderately toxic. These concentrations were comparable to levels in other world regions with intense agricultural activity and vector control like the Mediterranean Sea and the lagoon of Alvarado was evidenced as a hot spot for the accumulation of these organophosphates with the high risk for the benthic organisms and for the human health when consuming these fishery products.

Highlights

Organophosphate pesticides (OPs) are the chemical compounds most used in the world, representing between 30% and 40% of insecticide sales in the planet [1] [2]
These compounds less persistent than organochlorine pesticides have a higher acute toxicity, with their biocide action affecting a larger diversity of organisms, and have a low cost, all of which favors their use to control various species that affect food-relevant crops as well as some vectors that represent risks to human health
The total concentration of the quantified OPs had a maximum value of 79,824.4 pg/g in site 9, and site 10 had a similar value (79,265.5 pg/g) since both sampling points are near the village and Port of Alvarado which are directly influenced by the Gulf of Mexico through the area where both bodies of water join (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Organophosphate pesticides (OPs) are the chemical compounds most used in the world, representing between 30% and 40% of insecticide sales in the planet [1] [2]. Very complete reviews have been made of the presence of pesticides in Mexico, mainly from the group of organochlorines in coastal organisms [10] and the national situation of these compounds, including aspects of the use and effects of these compounds both in the environment and in health, concluding that there is a lot of information on organochlorine pesticides in coastal ecosystems and that there is a lack of data on other groups of pesticides such as organophosphates in these coastal sites despite being the most sold compounds in the Mexican territory; in addition, it has been reported that the most commonly used active ingredients are Chlorpyrifos, Methamidophos and Parathion-methyl belonging to this chemical group [11]; derived from this panorama, the purpose of this paper is, to provide the initial data on the content of organophosphate pesticides in sediments of the Ramsar site Alvarado lagoon at the Gulf of Mexico as a first approach to the presence of these agrochemicals and the potential risk they represent to the benthic community, to contribute with recent information that allows modifying the current legislation and to restrict or prohibit the pesticides considered highly hazardous by diverse international agencies [12] [13] [14]

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