Local organochlorine pesticide concentrations in soil put into a global perspective

In this work, agricultu'ral and background soil concentrations of p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, HCB, alpha-, beta- and gamma-HCH from 1993 to 2012 were collected from 73 peer-reviewed publications, and analysed statistically. For the period 2003-2012 and for all chemicals, the mean concentration in agricultural soil is significantly higher than the concentration in background soil. In addition to the statistical analysis, concentrations of p,p'-DDT and alpha-HCH in soils were calculated with a global environmental fate and transport model. A decrease in the mean soil concentration from the first decade to the second was observed with the model, but this decrease is not visible in the measured concentrations, which could result from ongoing use of p,p'-DDT and alpha-HCH Furthermore, modelled background soil concentrations are generally lower than measurements. This implies that background soil may have received p,p'-DDT and alpha-HCH through additional routes not described by the model such as spray drift. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.