Difference between revisions of "Organochlorine pesticides"
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== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
| − | Organochlorine pesticides are chemically produced pesticides which include [[DDT]], dieldrin, heptachlor and | + | Organochlorine pesticides are chemically produced pesticides which include [[DDT]], dieldrin, heptachlor, chlordane, [[endosulphan]] and [[dicofol]]. |
Many types where widely used as insecticides throughout the 1950's and 1960's until their use was banned in western countries since the 1970's. | Many types where widely used as insecticides throughout the 1950's and 1960's until their use was banned in western countries since the 1970's. | ||
Many organochlorine pesticides are extremely persistent in the environment. They have a low solubility in water and therefore tend to [[adsorption|adsorb]] on to particles. They tend to end up in the lipids of living organisms making them difficult to excrete and causing them to [[bioaccumulation|bioaccumulate]]. They also [[biomagnification|biomagnify]], which causes the top predators of the [[food chain]] to contain high concentrations of these compounds. | Many organochlorine pesticides are extremely persistent in the environment. They have a low solubility in water and therefore tend to [[adsorption|adsorb]] on to particles. They tend to end up in the lipids of living organisms making them difficult to excrete and causing them to [[bioaccumulation|bioaccumulate]]. They also [[biomagnification|biomagnify]], which causes the top predators of the [[food chain]] to contain high concentrations of these compounds. | ||
Revision as of 14:02, 5 August 2009
Definition of organochlorine pesticides:
pesticides made out of organochlorine compounds
This is the common definition for organochlorine pesticides, other definitions can be discussed in the article
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Notes
Organochlorine pesticides are chemically produced pesticides which include DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor, chlordane, endosulphan and dicofol. Many types where widely used as insecticides throughout the 1950's and 1960's until their use was banned in western countries since the 1970's. Many organochlorine pesticides are extremely persistent in the environment. They have a low solubility in water and therefore tend to adsorb on to particles. They tend to end up in the lipids of living organisms making them difficult to excrete and causing them to bioaccumulate. They also biomagnify, which causes the top predators of the food chain to contain high concentrations of these compounds. Originally they were used as pesticides in terrestrial ecosystems. However, they are flushed away from terrestrial ecosystems trough rivers and end up in marine ecosystems. Due to their low solubility and high adsorption to particles and lipids this takes years to decades. [1]
