Study of organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals in soils of the Juarez valley: an important agricultural region between Mexico and the USA

Núñez-Gastélum, José A.; Hernández-Carreón, Stephanie; Delgado-Ríos, Marcos; Flores-Marguez, Juan Pedro; Meza-Montenegro, María M.; Osorio-Rosas, Claudia; Cota-Ruiz, Keni; Gardea-Torresdey, Jorge L.

doi:10.1007/s11356-019-06724-4

Research Article
Published: 13 November 2019

Study of organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals in soils of the Juarez valley: an important agricultural region between Mexico and the USA

José A. Núñez-Gastélum ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7098-4485¹,
Stephanie Hernández-Carreón¹,
Marcos Delgado-Ríos¹,
Juan Pedro Flores-Marguez¹,
María M. Meza-Montenegro²,
Claudia Osorio-Rosas²,
Keni Cota-Ruiz^3,4 &
Jorge L. Gardea-Torresdey^3,4,5,6

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 26, pages 36401–36409 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Juarez Valley is an important agricultural region in northern Mexico, conveniently organized into three modules (I to III). For decades, their soils have been exposed to organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and also have been irrigated with wastewaters, which may contain heavy metals. Nowadays, there is very limited information regarding the presence of OCPs and heavy metals in these soils. Thus, the aim of this study was to diagnose these soils for OCPs and heavy metal content by using gas chromatography coupled with electron micro-capture detector and atomic absorption spectrometry, respectively. The results indicated that 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene and 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane were primarily disseminated across the three modules since they were found in 100% and 97% of the analyzed soils, respectively. According to international regulations, none of the determined OCP concentrations are out of the limits. Additionally, the Cu, Zn, Fe, Pb, and Mn were found in all sampled soils from the three modules. The highest concentration of Fe was found in module II (1902.7 ± 332.2 mg kg⁻¹), followed by Mn in module III (392.43 ± 74.43 mg kg⁻¹), Zn in module I (38.36 ± 26.57 mg kg⁻¹), Pb in module II (23.48 ± 6.48 mg kg⁻¹), and Cu in module I (11.04 ± 3.83 mg kg⁻¹) (p ≤ 0.05). These values did not exceed the limits proposed by international standards. The Cd was detected in most of the analyzed soils and all their values, with an average of 2 mg kg⁻¹, surpassed the Mexican standards (0.35 mg kg⁻¹). This study has mapped the main OCPs and heavy metals in the Juarez Valley and can serve as a starting point to further monitor the behave of xenobiotics. Since these recalcitrant compounds might be bio-accumulated in biological systems, further analytical methods, as well as remediation techniques, should be developed.

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Acknowledgments

J.A.N-G is grateful to Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez for providing facilities for the realization of this study. S.R-C wish to thank CONACYT for the master degree scholarship granted.

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Affiliations

Departamento de Ciencias Químico Biológicas, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Anillo envolvente del PRONAF y Estocolmo s/n, 32310, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México
José A. Núñez-Gastélum, Stephanie Hernández-Carreón, Marcos Delgado-Ríos & Juan Pedro Flores-Marguez
Departamento de Biotecnología y Ciencias Alimentarias, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, 85000, Cd. Obregón, Sonora, México
María M. Meza-Montenegro & Claudia Osorio-Rosas
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX, 79968, USA
Keni Cota-Ruiz & Jorge L. Gardea-Torresdey
UC Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN), The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX, 79968, USA
Keni Cota-Ruiz & Jorge L. Gardea-Torresdey
Environmental Science and Engineering Ph.D. program, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX, 79968, USA
Jorge L. Gardea-Torresdey
NSF-ERC Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment Center (NEWT), Houston, USA
Jorge L. Gardea-Torresdey

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José A. Núñez-Gastélum
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Stephanie Hernández-Carreón
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Marcos Delgado-Ríos
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Juan Pedro Flores-Marguez
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María M. Meza-Montenegro
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Claudia Osorio-Rosas
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Keni Cota-Ruiz
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Jorge L. Gardea-Torresdey
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Correspondence to José A. Núñez-Gastélum.

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Núñez-Gastélum, J.A., Hernández-Carreón, S., Delgado-Ríos, M. et al. Study of organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals in soils of the Juarez valley: an important agricultural region between Mexico and the USA. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 36401–36409 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06724-4

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Received: 27 May 2019
Accepted: 07 October 2019
Published: 13 November 2019
Issue Date: December 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06724-4

Keywords

Organochlorine pesticides
Heavy metals
Soil pollution
DDT
Agricultural soil
Cadmium