DETERMINATION OF ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES
IN DRINKING WATERS SAMPLED FROM CLUJ AND HUNEDOARA COUNTIES

 

MARIA-ELISABETA LOVÁSZ , IRINA DUMITRAŞCU, OVIDIU TRAIAN POPA, ANCA ELENA GURZĂU

 

Abstract. – Determination of organochlorine pesticides in drinking waters sampled from Cluj and Hunedoara counties. Pesticides are found scattered in different environmental factors (water, air, soil) wherefrom they are drawn off by vegetal and animal organisms. Water pollution by pesticides results from the plant protection products industry and also from massive application of these resources in agriculture and other branches of economy. Pesticides can reach surface water along with dripping waters and by infiltration may reach the groundwater layers, organochlorine pesticides are most often found in the water sources (dieldrin, endrin, DDT, aldrin, lindane, heptachlor, etc.) due to their increased persistence in the external environment. This study followed up the determination of organochlorine pesticides in 14 drinking water samples collected from the output of water treatment plants in Cluj and Hunedoara counties that process surface water and deep-water sources. For identification of organochlorine pesticides, the gas chromatographic method after liquid-liquid extraction was used, by a gas cromatograph Shimadzu GC 2010 with detector ECD (Electron Capture Detection). There were not detected higher values than the method detection limit (0.01 µg/l) in the drinking water samples collected and analyzed for both total organochlorine pesticides and components, which were well below the maximum concentration admitted by Law 452/2002 regarding drinking water quality. Results are correlated with the sanitary protection areas for water sources and with the use of agricultural lands in the area. The solution to reduce risk of pesticides use is ecological agriculture , which gains increasingly more ground in Romania too.

Keywords: organochlorine pesticides, dinking water, gas cromatograph

 

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