The contamination with organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals in surface water in Küçük Menderes River in Turkey, 2000-2002.

This study was conducted from 2000 to 2002 to determine the residues of organochlorine pesticides (OCP) and metals in surface water of Küçük Menderes River in Turkey. The results showed that Küçük Menderes River was still polluted with organochlorine pesticide despite the existence of bans over a long time. The concentrations of pesticides depended on the sampling season and the tendency was not the same for all detected pesticides. The DDTs (DDT, DDD, DDE) were detected in most water samples. DDD showed a high concentration among DDTs. The highest concentration among organochlorine pesticides was heptachlor epoxide by 281 ng/l. However, the residues were lower than most polluted water from other sources in the world. In most cases, they were not detectable. The studied surface water metals varied from not detected to 0.258 mg/l, and the residues were low except for Ni, Cu, and Zn. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.