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Residues and sources of organochlorine pesticides in soils of elementary schools and communities in Wenchuan 5.12 Earthquake-affected areas

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Abstract

The disinfectants and pesticides extensively used after Wenchuan 5.12 Earthquake on May 12, 2008 (so-called Wenchuan 5.12 Earthquake), for epidemic prevention purpose can raise great concerns of environmental pollution and potential personal exposure. To investigate the soil pollution caused by the intensive application in earthquake-affected areas, surface soil samples from two elementary schools, two communities and two background areas were collected in Beichuan County and Dujiangyan City once per location in spring and in autumn in 2011 and then analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The results showed serious soil pollution of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs, 0.05–60.05 ng/g) and dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDTs, 0.06–35.79 ng/g) in the study areas compared with Wolong Nature Reserve (0.03–0.81 ng/g for HCHs and 0.02–0.40 ng/g for DDTs). The concentrations of most OCPs in soil of Beichuan County (e.g., 0.10–60.05 ng/g for HCHs and 0.17–35.79 ng/g for DDTs) were much higher than those of Dujiangyan City (e.g., 0.05–20.58 ng/g for HCHs and 0.06–10.69 ng/g for DDTs). In Beichuan County, the highest concentrations of HCHs and DDTs were found in the elementary school. In Dujiangyan City, the highest concentrations of HCHs and DDTs were found in the elementary school and the community, respectively. The concentrations of HCHs and DDTs were generally higher in spring than those in autumn. The predominant species (γ-HCH in ∑HCHs and 4,4′-DDT in ∑DDTs) and specific ratios suggested new inputs of lindane and technical DDT in the study areas. Therefore, continuous soil monitoring and possible intervention would be recommended to minimize local residents’ exposure to these toxic chemicals.

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Acknowledgements

This research project was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41072271, 40841026). Meanwhile, the authors wish to thank those who provided great support to this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China

    Qiangbin Zhang, Wei Huang, Xianlei Zhu & Qinping Song

  2. State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resource and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China

    Qiangbin Zhang

  3. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Metrology and Reference Materials, Institute for Environmental Reference Materials of Ministry of Environmental Protection, Beijing, 100029, China

    Wei Huang

  4. Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China

    Xianlei Zhu

  5. Division of Exposure Science, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    Zhihua Fan

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  1. Qiangbin Zhang
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Correspondence to Xianlei Zhu.

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Zhang, Q., Huang, W., Zhu, X. et al. Residues and sources of organochlorine pesticides in soils of elementary schools and communities in Wenchuan 5.12 Earthquake-affected areas. Environ Geochem Health 40, 1339–1353 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-017-0060-1

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