Characterization of organochlorine pesticides in water and sediments in the Tucutunemo River, Venezuela

This research intends to characterize Organochlorinated Pesticides (OCPs) and physicochemical parameters in water and sediments in the Tucutunemo River; information, which will serve to subsequently develop a pollutant transport model. A total of 36 simple samples of water and sediments were collected and analyzed every six months in three monitoring stations in 2015. The Tucutunemo River basin covers an area of 116.67 km 2 , of which 13.75 km 2 is cultivated agricultural land. The OCPs were characterized by chemical analysis, using a gas chromatograph with electron capture detector. It was calibrated with 14 OCPs, eight of which were detected, including: aldrin, dieldrin, p.p'-DDD, p.p'-DDE, p.p'-DDT, endrin, o.p'-DDE and o.p'-DDT. In water, total OCP concentrations varied from 0.073 to 0.098 μg l -1 , below the regulation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which proposes 200 μg l -1 . The average of the highest concentrations of OCPs detected in water were: aldrin, 0.021 μg l -1 ; dieldrin, 0.022 μg l -1 ; and p.p'-DDT, 0.011 μg l -1 . Except for p.p'-DDT, the ranges were lower than those proposed by the EPA of 1.300, 0.730 and 0.001 μg l -1 , for aldrin, dieldrin and DDT, respectively. In the sediments, the total concentrations ranged from 13.340 to 45.910 μg kg -1 . The highest average concentrations were aldrin (4.508 μg kg -1 ) and dieldrin (4.169 μg kg -1 ). In sediments, analysis of variance detected significant differences (p <0.05) for some of the OCPs. © 2018 Instituto Mexicano de Tecnologia del Agua. All rights reserved.