Soil concentrations and soil-air exchange of organochlorine pesticides along the Aba profile, east of the Tibetan Plateau, western China

Abstract

Mianzhu—Aba profile, east of the Tibetan Plateau, was selected to study the occurrence of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) along an altitudinal gradient. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) and Aldrin, Dieldrin and Endrin (Drins) in surface soils were detected in winter (March) and summer (July). Soil concentrations (ng·g−1, dw) in winter and summer ranged as follws: DDTs, 0.37–179.16 and 0.32–42.57; HCHs, 0.14–10.76 and 0.55–32.71; Drins, N.D-3.99 and 0.02–6.93, respectively. Main soil OCPs were p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE, β-HCH and Drins, among which Drins were rarely reported in current literature of the Tibetan Plateau. Higher OCP concentrations in the profile were attributed close to the agricultural fields of the Sichuan Basin, current lindane and nondicofol DDTs inputs, and also long-range atmospheric transport from abroad. Soil OCP concentrations underwent obvious seasonal variation, with higher DDTs in winter and higher HCHs and Drins in summer. It may be caused by climatic conditions, summer monsoon type, and physico-chemical properties of such contaminants. Though “rest” phenomenon occurred in some sampling sites, HCHs and Drins showed an increasing trend with increasing altitude, while DDTs showed an evident decrease with increasing altitude. The altitudinal distributions of OCPs were all consistent with previous findings in other mountainous regions. A primary fugacity analysis on OCPs soil-air exchange indicated that the profile may be secondary sources for HCHs and Endrin. As with Aldrin, Dieldrin, and DDTs, the profile may be both secondary sources and sinks.