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