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Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in soils near and around Lake Son-Kul in the western Tian Shan Mountains, Central Asia

  • Soils, Sec 2 • Global Change, Environ Risk Assess, Sustainable Land Use • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

Summer pasture development and tourism near and around Lake Son-Kul in the western Tian Shan Mountains has resulted in a local source of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) that lack monitoring and evaluation.

Materials and methods

Twenty-eight soil samples were collected from the Lake Son-Kul Basin (SKB) and Naryn River Valley (NRV) to measure OCP concentrations and evaluate their composition, transport processes, and ecological risks.

Results and discussion

Except for the high OCP concentration measured at one location, site 7 (145.32 ng/g dw), total OCP concentrations in the SKB ranged from 2.36 to 24.13 ng/g dw, slightly higher than concentrations in the NRV (1.69–7.45 ng/g dw) and similar to values in polar regions. Among the OCPs, HCHs and methoxychlor were the predominant compounds that accumulated in soils, followed by DDTs and Aldrins, whereas Chlors and Endos displayed lowest concentrations, indicating that animal husbandry is the main agricultural activity in the study area. Most of the less volatile pesticides, including β-HCH, p,p-DDT, and Chlors, represent past use from local sources, for instance the pesticides warehouse at site 7. More volatile compounds such as α-HCH, γ-HCH, and p’p-DDE represent exogenous atmospheric transport to the study area, as demonstrated by their isomeric ratios. Ecological risk assessment showed that the surface environment of the study area remains in good condition.

Conclusions

Findings from this study provided a snapshot of the current status of OCP contamination in soils of the Lake Son-Kul region. Although historical OCP contamination has impacted the lake’s ecology, catchment soils display low levels of OCP contamination.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the CAS Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia for assistance with this work. The authors thank Haiao Zeng and Long Ma for their field assistance, and Mark Brenner for his valuable improvement. We are also grateful for the helpful comments of anonymous reviewers. The paper was also supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Pan-Third Pole Environment Study for a Green Silk Road (XDA2006030101) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41671200; U1603242).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment Research, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People’s Republic of China

    Qianyu Li & Jinglu Wu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China

    Qianyu Li

  3. Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Jinglu Wu

  4. Institute of Geology, National Academy of Sciences, Bishkek, 720001, Kyrgyz Republic

    Kadyrbek Sakiev

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  1. Qianyu Li
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Correspondence to Jinglu Wu.

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Li, Q., Wu, J. & Sakiev, K. Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in soils near and around Lake Son-Kul in the western Tian Shan Mountains, Central Asia. J Soils Sediments 19, 1685–1696 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2163-4

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