Seasonal monitoring of organochlorine pesticides in water, soil, and sediment in a small pond and determining ecotoxicological risk assessment

Abstract

One of the most important ways to improve quality and productivity in agriculture is to eliminate weeds, plant pathogens, and insects with pesticides. Although pesticides can effectively control agricultural quality and quantity, there are also lots of disadvantages due to their intensive usage resulting in degradation products. These products can accumulate in organisms and enter the food chain. Therefore, pesticides emanating from agricultural areas are agents that can affect the water quality of surface and groundwater sources. In this study, the presence of pesticides in the water and soil environment of the Borabey Pond and watershed which is situated north of Eskişehir, Turkey were determined by measurements. For this purpose, sediment and water samples from the pond and soil samples from the watershed were taken. The levels of organochlorine pesticides in the water, sediment and soil from Borabey Pond were determined between 0.5–13.8 ng/L, 0.03–1.02 μg/kg, and 0.54–52 μg/kg. Moreover, fugacity fraction has been measured that there is a transformation from water to sediment. Wilcoxon rank‐sum test is done to the seasonal measurements and there is no significant difference. Meanwhile, risk quotient (risk characterization ratio) estimates for DDTs and HCHs is below 1, so risk is acceptable.