WHAT ARE ORGANOCHLORINE INSECTICIDES? (W.-T.

Tsai, in Encyclopedia of Toxicology (Third

Edition), 2014)

- chlorinated hydrocarbons to control insects and insect-borne diseases.

- By implying it could pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the
environment
- The persistence of OC compounds varies from moderate persistence with half-life of
approximately 60 days to high persistence with half-life up to 10–15 years. The most used
pesticide in agricultural practice is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), which is
moderately hazardous, with high persistence and a half-life of 2–15 years.

Organochlorine insecticides are classified into three subgroups: (W.-T. Tsai, in Encyclopedia of
Toxicology (Third Edition), 2014)

- dichlorodiphenylethanes (DDT, dicofol, methoxychlor, and perthane)

- chlorinated cyclodienes (aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, chlordane, endosulfan, and heptachlor)
- hexachlorocyclohexanes (BHC, chlordane, lindane, mirex, and toxaphene).

HOW IT POLLUTES THE AIR

- The basic characteristics of organochlorine pesticides are high persistence, low polarity, low
solubility, and high lipid solubility.
- It was volatile and stable, and some can adhere to the soil and air, thus increasing the
chances of high persistence in the environment.
- Chlorinated pesticides tend to be chemically stable under aerobic surface conditions. Due to
their relative insolubility, most OCPs are strongly adsorbed onto suspended particles in
water.
- Their immobility and persistence can lead their accumulation in soils where seemingly
moderate applications of pesticides have been applied. Aldrin has been recovered after six
years, both as traces and more abundantly as the metabolite, dieldrin. DDT has been
recovered up to 30 years after deposition.

SAMPLING POINT OF BLUE VALLEY

- There are many agricultural activities that using the pesticide at the Blue Valley, Cameron
Highland.
- Located near Telom River which might be polluted from the pesticide.
- Blue Valley Flower Farm, and Kc Kwang & Sons Grapes & Tomato Farm are the place that can
choose for doing the sampling site.

REFERENCES

Tsai, W. T. (2014). Organochlorine Insecticides. Encyclopedia of Toxicology, 711–713.

https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-386454-3.00172-x

Ayaraj, R., Megha, P., & Sreedev, P. (2017). Organochlorine pesticides, their toxic effects on living
organisms and their fate in the environment. Interdiscip Toxicol, 90-100.