Persistence of dieldrin, lindane, and DDT in a light sandy soil and their uptake by grass

Amounts of DDT and its breakdown products were determined in soil in an apple orchard in Herefordshire. Samples were taken for a number of years (1972–79) after use of the insecticide in the orchard had ceased in 1969. The results were compared with those obtained in an investigation of the same orchard in 1968. From 1968 to 1979, soil residues of pp′‐DDT, p′‐‐DDT and pp′‐‐TDE decreased gradually whereas those of pp′‐‐DDE increased, and there were linear relationships between log (concentration) and time. The calculated time for 50% decrease in concentration (Dt50) was 11.7 years for pp′‐‐DDT, 3.3 years for pp′‐‐TDE and 7.1 years for op′‐‐DDT; the time for doubling the concentration for pp′‐‐DDE was 9.1 years. Regression analysis on the two major components (pp′‐‐DDT+pp′‐‐DDE) indicated that the total amount (2.7 mg kg−1) was not decreasing with time. It was concluded that during a post‐spray era, the breakdown of pp′‐‐DDT to pp′‐‐DDE was a significant feature of the persistence of DDT, and that, in contrast to the findings of other workers who sampled when DDT was being used, there were no losses by volatilisation. There was an exponential decrease in the amount of DDT residues with increasing soil depth and approximately 90% was found in the top 10 cm of the undisturbed soil profile.

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“…Voerman et aZ., 6 however, found no decrease on a single sampling occasion 4 years after applications of DDT had ceased.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Distribution and breakdown of DDT in orchard soil

Cooke

Stringer

1982

Pestic. Sci.

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“…The SCF value of 2,4dichlorophenol for soybean and oat were 0.2 and 2.5, respectively [35]. An SCF of DDT of 93 was found in ryegrass [28] and of 14 in soybean [36]. The high SCF values for DDT (166-1,700) obtained f r o m Harris and Sans [20] were probably the result of drift from the treatment of adjacent fields, as these authors stated.…”

Section: Stem Concentration Factormentioning

confidence: 96%

“…For several compounds high standard deviations were calculated. For haloxyfop [27], DDT and dieldrin [20,28] the high variation can be clearly attributed to the different plant species tested: Grass species showed RCF values 10 or more times higher than crop species such as carrot, potato, and soybean. For pentachlorophenol, the RCF of soybean was 2.5 times higher than that of spinach [29].…”

Section: Root Concentration Factormentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of models on uptake of organic chemicals by plant roots

Polder

Hulzebos

Jager

1995

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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The fate of a substance is governed by the distribution of the substance among soil, water, air, and biota, and by the concentration of the substance and its altered forms existing over a period of time in these media. As vegetable food forms a major part of the diet of both human beings and of cattle, the contamination of plants will have a large influence on the total daily intake of a substance. In this report the application of soil‐plant transfer factors is investigated. The main goal was to find sufficient experimental data in the available literature, if possible adjusted for differences in experimental design, that could be used to evaluate the currently applied method in the uniform system for the evaluation of substances (USES). In this approach, concentrations in plant root and stem are estimated on the basis of an empirical relationship with the octanol/water partitioning coefficient. It was concluded that, for the purposes set in USES, the root concentration factor is an appropriate instrument for the estimation of residues in roots, whereas the application of the stem concentration factor is insufficient. Consequently, for aboveground plant parts, other approaches need to be explored, which can then be applied in the general risk assessment of substances.

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“…7). Roots have been shown to absorb DDT and its metabolites from soil under field conditions without significant translocation to the foliage Nash 1971, Voerman andBesemer 1975). The trend of residues increasing in foliage of study area plants (Table 3) was probably due to volatilization of DDE from the soil surface, a process that would be expected to gain momentum (hence the yearto-year increase) as soil microbes adapted to metabolizing DDE (Hiltbold 1974).…”

Section: Transfer Of Residues Through Trophic Levelsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Persistence and Transfer of ³⁶ C1‐DDT in the Soil and Biota of an Old‐Field Ecosystem: A Six‐Year Balance Study

Forsyth

Peterle²,

Bandy³

1983

Ecology

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The fate of a 1 kg/ha application of granular chlorine—36—labeled DDT made by helicopter on 10 June 1969 to a 4—ha old—field study are near Urbana, Ohio was traced and quantified in soil and biota through November 1974. Between 1970 and 1974, residues of DDT (DDTR, includes DDT plus metabolites) declined from 22.0 to 3.8 mg/kg tissue in earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) and from 9.3 to 2.1 mg/kg in slugs (Decoceras laeve). Residues also declined from 12.1 to 4.7 mg/kg in firefly larvae (Photuris sp.), and from 32.3 mg/kg whole body in 1970 to 18.9 mg/kg in 1974 in short—tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda), two predators of slugs and earthworms. The fact of moles (Scalopus aquaticus) and garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis), which fed primarily on earthworms, contained less DDTR (69.7 and 53.3 mg/kg, respectively) than did that of Blarina (308.5 mg/kg) but more than that of the other vertebrates. Levels of DDTR in foilage of grasses and forbs increased from 2—3 mg/kg in 1970 to 7.6 mg/kg in 1974, but remained relatively constant at 1.6 mg/kg in roots. Residues increased from 2.5 mg/kg in 1971 to 10.8 mg/kg in 1974 in isopods (Tracheoniscus rathkei); from 1.5 mg/kg in 1970 to 8.1 mg/kg in 1973 in crickets (Gryllus pennsylvanicus and Nemobius allardi); and from 1.4 mg/kg in 1970 to 5.4 mg/kg in 1973 in ground beetles (Carabidae), which were predators of isopods, crickets, and other herbivorous arthropods. Whole body residues increased in meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), which fed primarily on grasses, from 2.7 mg/kg in 1970 to 6.8 mg/kg in 1974; and in masked shrews (Sorex cinereus), which were predators of herbivorous arthropods, from 4.4 mg/kg in 1970 to 9.8 mg/kg in 1974. Cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus), collected only in 1969 and 1970, contained DDTR levels similar to those of voles. Weasels (Mustela nivalis) contained about twice the residue levels of voles, their principal prey. Amounts of residues in samples of air collected at the surface of the soil were positively correlated with amounts in soil and with air temperature. The total quantity of DDTR in the top 12 cm of soil was estimated to be 1779 g in OCtober 1974, or 38% of the amount applied in 1969. Earthworms, which comprised the largest component of animal biomass, contained 5% of the total DDTR in the ecosystem in 1969, compared to 3% in the plants and other biota. As residues declined in earthworms and increased in plants over time, the total DDTR bound in the biota increased until it accounted for 22% of the total DDTR in the ecosystem in 1974. Losses of DDTR from the ecosystem eary year were attributed primarily to volatilization from soil, because losses in runoff and emigration insects and small mammals were negligible.

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Persistence of dieldrin, lindane, and DDT in a light sandy soil and their uptake by grass

Cited by 28 publications

References 9 publications

Distribution and breakdown of DDT in orchard soil

Distribution and breakdown of DDT in orchard soil

Validation of models on uptake of organic chemicals by plant roots

Persistence and Transfer of ³⁶ C1‐DDT in the Soil and Biota of an Old‐Field Ecosystem: A Six‐Year Balance Study

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Persistence of dieldrin, lindane, and DDT in a light sandy soil and their uptake by grass

Cited by 28 publications

References 9 publications

Distribution and breakdown of DDT in orchard soil

Distribution and breakdown of DDT in orchard soil

Validation of models on uptake of organic chemicals by plant roots

Persistence and Transfer of 36 C1‐DDT in the Soil and Biota of an Old‐Field Ecosystem: A Six‐Year Balance Study

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Persistence and Transfer of ³⁶ C1‐DDT in the Soil and Biota of an Old‐Field Ecosystem: A Six‐Year Balance Study