Assessment of organochlorine pesticide contamination in waterbirds from an agricultural region, Central China.

Twenty-one organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were measured in the muscle of six predominant waterbird species from Jianghan Plain, Hubei Province, Central China. Among OCPs, DDTs were the most prevalent compounds, with average concentration ranging from 31.1 to 1445 ng/g lipid weight. Little egrets (Egretta garzetta) and Chinese pond herons (Ardeola bacchus) showed significantly higher concentrations of OCPs (p < 0.05) due to their dietary habits and migratory patterns. There were no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) for most OCPs between sex and age groups. The accumulation profiles of HCHs and DDTs suggested that these OCPs in Jianghan Plain were largely derived from historical usage. Risk assessment indicated that heptachlor could be likely to pose adverse health effects on people consuming ducks in Jianghan Plain.