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Spatio-temporal variability of water pollution by chlordecone at the watershed scale: what insights for the management of polluted territories?

  • Environmental and human health issues related to long term contamination by chlordecone in the French West Indies
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Abstract

Chlordecone, applied on soils until 1993 to control banana weevil, has polluted water resources in the French West Indies for more than 40 years. At the watershed scale, chlordecone applications were not homogenous, generating a spatial heterogeneity of the pollution. The roles of climate, hydrology, soil, agronomy, and geology on watershed functioning generate a temporal heterogeneity of the pollution. This study questions the interactions between practices and the environment that induce such variability. We analyzed hydrological and water pollution datasets from a 2-year monitoring program on the Galion watershed in Martinique (French West Indies). We conjointly analyzed (i) weekly chlordecone (CLD) concentration monitored on 3 river sampling sites, (ii) aquifer piezometric dynamics and pollutions, and (iii) agricultural practices on polluted soils. Our results showed that chlordecone pollution in surface waters are characterized by annual trends and infra-annual variations. Aquifers showed CLD concentration 10 times higher than surface water, with CLD concentration peaks during recharge events. We showed strong interactions between rainfall events and practices on CLD pollution requiring a systemic management approach, in particular during post-cyclonic periods. Small sub-watershed with high CLD pollution appeared to be a substantial contributor to CLD mass transfers to the marine environment via rivers and should therefore receive priority management. We suggest increasing stable organic matter return to soil as well as external input of organic matter to reduce CLD transfers to water. We identified hydrological conditions—notably drying periods—and tillage as the most influential factors on CLD leaching. In particular, tillage acts on 3 processes that increases CLD leaching: organic matter degradation, modification of water paths in soil, and allophane clay degradation.

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Acknowledgments

We also thank F. Massat and P. Rey from LDA26 for providing details on the protocols from the laboratory.

Funding

This work supported by the National Chlordecone Action Plan (PNAC), French Water Office of Martinique (ODE Martinique), and European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) with the RIVAGE project (MQ0003772-CIRAD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UPR HortSys, Cirad, F-97285, Le Lamentin, Martinique, France

    Charles Mottes, Landry Deffontaines, Pauline Della Rossa, Magalie Lesueur-Jannoyer & Joanne Plet

  2. HortSys, Geco, Univ Montpellier, Cirad, Inra, Inria, Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier, France

    Charles Mottes, Landry Deffontaines, Irina Comte, Pauline Della Rossa, Magalie Lesueur-Jannoyer, Joanne Plet & Philippe Cattan

  3. BRGM, Univ. Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Jean Baptiste Charlier

  4. UPR GECO, Cirad, F-34000, Montpellier, France

    Irina Comte & Philippe Cattan

  5. Aix Marseille Université, Avignon université, IRD, CNRS, IMBE, F-97285, Le Lamentin, Martinique, France

    Thierry Woignier & Luc Rangon

  6. HSM, IRD, F-97285, Le Lamentin, Martinique, France

    Georges Adele & Jean-Pierre Bricquet

  7. BRGM, F-97200, Fort-de-France, Martinique, France

    Anne-Lise Tailame & Luc Arnaud

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  1. Charles Mottes
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  2. Landry Deffontaines
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  3. Jean Baptiste Charlier
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Correspondence to Charles Mottes.

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Mottes, C., Deffontaines, L., Charlier, J.B. et al. Spatio-temporal variability of water pollution by chlordecone at the watershed scale: what insights for the management of polluted territories?. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 40999–41013 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06247-y

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