Persistent organochlorine residues in sediments of the Haihe River and Dagu Drainage River in Tianjin, China

Persistent organochlorine compounds were analyzed by means of GC-ECD in surface sediment samples from two selected rivers in Tianjin, Haihe River and Dagu Drainage River. A total of 16 surface sediment sites were selected along the both rivers. The frequency of detection of T-HCH and T-DDT in sediment samples both was up to 100%, which illustrated that the contamination of HCH and DDT was widespread in Haihe and Dagu Drainage Rivers. Results indicated that the concentrations of various pesticides in sediments from Haihe River were in the range of 3.30-75.96 ng/g dw for T-HCH and 1.57-211.57 ng/g dw for T-DDT. Compared with Haihe River, Dagu Drainage River was contaminated by HCHs and DDTs along the all locations and the values of T-HCH and T-DDT residues in sediments ranged from 2.30 to 124.61 ng/g dw and from 11.28 to 237.30 ng/g dw, respectively. The possible pollution sources were analyzed through monitoring results of organochlorine pesticides(OCPs) residues in sediments from the two rivers. The investigation also indicated that HCH was still used as pesticide in Tianjin partial area.