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Organochlorine pesticides in air and soil and estimated air–soil exchange in Punjab, Pakistan

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/02/2013
<mark>Journal</mark>Science of the Total Environment
Volume444
Number of pages7
Pages (from-to)491-497
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

This study provides the first systematic data on the distribution of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the soils and atmosphere of the Punjab province, Pakistan. Atmospheric concentrations of OCPs were estimated by using the polyurethane foam passive air sampling (PUF-PAS) technique. DDTs (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), HCHs (hexachlorocyclohexane) and chlordane were the dominant OCPs found in both soil and air samples. The average concentrations of DDTs, HCHs and chlordane were 350, 55 and 99 pg m− 3 in air and 40, 7.8 and 3.8 ng g− 1 in soils, respectively. Air–soil exchange of OCPs was estimated by calculating the fugacities in soil and air. Fugacity fraction (ff) values indicate that soils are acting as a secondary source to contaminate the atmosphere at certain sampling stations.