Environmental monitoring and recommendations on decreasing the levels of pesticide pollution in Zhytomyr region of Ukraine

Abstract

Environmental monitoring was conducted of facilities for storage and disposal of banned and unsuitable pesticides. Pesticide content in the soil, water, and products of agriculture in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine was examined, and the accumulation of organochlorine pesticides by freshwater bivalve mollusks was assessed. Storage facilities of the Zhytomyr region contain nearly 392.18 t of pesticides in 137 warehouses, of which 11 meet the requirements, 36 are tolerable, and 90 are in poor condition. In 2018–2019, pesticide content (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), heptachlor, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD), hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH)) was studied in soil and sediments in the Zhytomyr region. The content ranged from 0.0007 to 0.07 mg/kg, which is lower than MPC (0.1 mg/kg). The content of HCH, DDT, DDE, DDD, and heptachlor was at 0.0007–0.01 mg/dm3 levels in water bodies of the Zhytomyr region in 2018–2019, also lower than MPC. In some samples of soil, water and vegetables, the recorded levels of DDT and organophosphate pesticides Dragon, Dorpan, and Dursban exceeded MPC in 1.5–3.0 times. Traces of organochlorine pesticide Aldrin were found in soft tissues of bivalve mollusks and in the sediments of water bodies they inhabit. Recommendations are proposed to lower the pesticide content in the environment.