Abstract
Concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons such as HCH isomers and DDT compounds were determined in air and surface water samples taken from the Western Pacific, Eastern Indian and Antarctic Oceans. The most interesting finding was their presence in measurable concentrations in the Antarctic Ocean. Chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides are widely distributed in the open ocean environment over both the northern and southern hemispheres, and some characteristic distribution patterns of pesticide species in different oceanic regions were observed both in air and water samples. HCH residues found in the northern hemisphere were much higher in concentration than those in the southern hemisphere. On the other hand, higher concentrations of DDT residues were found in the tropical regions, but their levels were not so different between both the northern and southern hemispheres. HCH isomers found in the northern hemisphere had the following order of concentrations:α-HCH>γ HCH>β-HCH, while in the southern hemisphereγ-HCH was apparently dominant. DDT compound compositions were rather uniform in all the oceans surveyed, and more than 50% wasp,p′-DDT. These facts can be explained by the world wide situation regarding pesticide use and the physicochemical properties of the pesticides such as their vapor pressures and water solubilities. In addition, the meridional circulation of the atmosphere, particularly the mass flows of the Hadley and Ferrel cells in the troposphere, also contributes to the atmospheric transport and global distribution of these pesticides.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anonymous (1981): Pesticides in China. Kongetsu no Nôyaku (Monthly Review of Pesticide), Kagaku Kôgyô Nippôsha, Tokyo, April, pp. 114–116 (in Japanese).
Atlas, E. andC. S. Giam (1981): Global transport of organic pollutants: Ambient concentrations in the remote marine atmosphere. Science,211, 163–165.
Baumann, K., J. Angerer, R. Heinrich andG. Lehnert (1980): Occupational exposure of hexachlorocyclohexane. 1. Body burden of HCH isomers. Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health,47, 119–127.
Bidleman, T. F. andC. E. Olney (1974): Chlorinated hydrocarbons in the Sargasso Sea atmosphere and surface water. Science,183, 516–518.
Bidleman, T. F., E. J. Christensen, W. N. Billings andR. Leonard (1981): Atmospheric transport of organochlorines in the North Atlanti: Gyre. J. Mar. Res.,39, 443–469.
Bidleman, T. F. andR. Leonard (1982): Aerial transport of pesticides over the Northern Indian Ocean and adjacent seas. Atmos. Environ.,16, 1099–1107.
Chapin, G. andR. Wasserström (1981): Agricultural production and malaria resurgence in Central America and India. Nature,293, 181–185.
Czeplak, G. andC. Junge (1974): Studies of interhemispheric exchange in the troposphere by a diffusion model. Adv. Geophys.,18B, 57–72.
Dawson, R. andJ.P. Riley (1977): Chlorine-containing pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in British coastal waters. Est. Coast. Mar. Sci.,4, 55–69.
Doskey, P. V. andA. W. Andren (1981): Modeling the flux of atmospheric polychlorinated biphenyls across the air/water interface. Environ. Sci. Technol.,15, 705–711.
Food and Agriculture Organization (1979): 1978 FAO Production Year Book, FAO, Rome,32, 245 pp.
Giam, C. S., E. Atlas, H. S. Chan andG. S. Neff (1980): Phthalate esters, PCB and DDT residues in the Gulf of Mexico atmosphere. Atmos. Environ.,14, 65–69.
Giam, C. S. andE. Atlas (1981): Concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons are found to be 2 to 10 times lower at Samoa in the southern hemisphere than at Enewetak in the northern hemisphere. SEAREX Newsletter,4, 7–9.
Goldberg, E. D. (1975): Synthetic organohalides in the sea.In, A Discussion on Organic Pollutants in the Sea, organized by H. A.Cole and J. E.Smith, Proc. Roy. Soc. London, Ser. B,189, pp. 277–289.
Haller, H. L., P. B. Bartlett, N. L. Drake, M.S. Newman, S.J. Cristol, C.M. Eaker, R.A, Hayes, G. W. Kilmer, B. Magerlein, G. P. Mueller, A. Schneider andW. Wheatley (1945): The chemical composition of technical DDT. J. Americ. Chem. Soc.,67, 1591–1602.
Harvey, G. R., W. G. Steinhauer andJ. M. Teal (1973): Polychlorinated biphenyls in North Atlantic Ocean water. Science,180, 643–644.
Harvey, G. R., W. G. Steinhauer andH.P. Miklas (1974): Decline of polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations in North Atlantic surface water. Nature,252, 387–388.
Harvey, G. R. andW. G. Steinhauer (1976a): Biochemistry of PCB and DDT in the North Atlantic.In, Environmental Biochemistry, ed. byJ. O. Nriagu,1, Ann Arbor Sci., Michigan, pp. 203–221.
Harvey, G. R. andW. G. Steinhauer (1976b): Transport pathways of polychlorinated biphenyls in Atlantic water. J. Mar. Res.,34, 561–575.
Hidaka, H. andR. Tatsukawa (1981): Review: Environmental pollution by chlorinated hydrocarbons in the Antarctic. The Antarctic Record, No. 71, 151–164 (in Japanese).
Jalees, K. andR. Vemuri (1980): Pesticides pollution in India. Int. Environ. Stud.,15, 49–54.
Jonas, R. B. andF. K. Pfaender (1976): Chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides in Western North Atlantic Ocean. Environ. Sci. Technol.,10, 770–773.
Junge, C. E. (1977): Basic considerations about trace constituents in the atmosphere as related to the fate of global pollutants.In, Fate of Pollutants in the Air and Water Environments, ed. byI.H. Suffet, Part 1, Wiley-Interscience, New York, pp. 7–25.
Louis, J. F. (1975): Mean meridional circulation. The natural stratosphere of 1974. CIAP Monograph 1, Dept. of Transportation, Washington, D.C., pp. 6·23–6·31.
McClure, V. E. (1976): Transport of heavy chlorinated hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. Environ. Sci. Technol.,10, 1223–1229.
Muto, T. (1970): DDT. Nôyaku Gaisetsu (Outline of Pesticides), Gihôdô, Tokyo, pp. 721–726 (in Japanese).
National Academy of Sciences (1971): Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in the Marine Environment. Washington, D. C., 42 pp.
National Academy of Sciences (1978): Halogenated hydrocarbons.In, The Tropospheric Transport of Pollutants and Other Substances to the Oceans, Washington, D. C., pp. 146–168.
National Academy of Sciences (1979): PCB transport throughout the environment.In, Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Washington, D. C., pp. 11–76.
Olafson, R. W. (1978): Effect of agricultural activity on levels of organochlorine pesticides in hard corals, fish and mulluscs from the Great Barrier Reef. Mar. Environ. Res.,1, 87–107.
Perfect, J. (1980): The environmental impact of DDT in a tropical agro-ecosystem. AMBIO,9, 16–21.
Simon, C.G. andT.F. Bidleman (1979): Sampling airborn polychlorinated biphenyls with polyurethane foam—chromatographic approach to determining retention efficiencies. Anal. Chem.,51, 1110–1113.
Snelson, J.T. (1977): The importance of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the world agriculture. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety,1, 17–30.
Spencer, W. F. andM. M. Cliath (1972): Volatility of DDT and related compounds. J. Agric. Food Chem.,20, 645–649.
Tanabe, S. andR. Tatsukawa (1980): Chlorinated hydrocarbons in the North Pacific and Indian Oceans. J. Oceanogr. Soc. Japan,36, 217–226.
Tanabe, S., H. Tanaka, R. Tatsukawa andI. Nakamura (1980): Organochlorine compound residues in several species of fishes caught off Chile. Bull. Japanese Soc. Fisher.,46, 763–769 (in Japanese).
Tanabe, S. andR. Tatsukawa (1981): Behavior of man-made organics in the coastal and estuarine environment. Bull. Coastal. Oceanogr.,19, 9–19 (in Japanese).
Tanabe, S., M. Kawano andR. Tatsukawa (1982): Chlorinated hydrocarbons in the Antarctic, Western Pacific and Eastern Indian Oceans. Trans. Tokyo Univ. Fisher, (5), 97–109.
Tatsukawa, R., T. Wakimoto andT. Ogawa (1972): BHC residues in the environment.In, Environmental Toxicology of Pesticides, ed. byF. Matsumura, C. M. Boush andT. Misato, Academic Press, New York, pp. 229–238.
Tatsukawa, R., S. Tanabe andT. Yoshida (1979): Man-made organics.In, Kaiyô Kankyô Chôsahô, ed. by The Oceanogr. Soc. Japan, Kôseisha Kôseikaku, Tokyo, pp. 232–269 (in Japanese).
Wang, D. (1981): The status of pesticides in China and their future. J. Pest. Sci.,6. 397–399.
Woodwell, G. M., P. P. Craig andH. A. Johnson (1971): DDT in the biosphere: Where does it go? Science,174, 1101–1107.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tanabe, S., Tatsukawa, R., Kawano, M. et al. Global distribution and atmospheric transport of chlorinated hydrocarbons: HCH (BHC) isomers and DDT compounds in the Western Pacific, Eastern Indian and Antarctic Oceans. Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan 38, 137–148 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02110285
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02110285