Organochloro pesticides

Organochloro hydrocarbons with insecticidal properties

The development and production of organochloro pesticides began already in the first half of the last century. Compounds like DDT, pentachlorophenol, hexachlorobenzene, lindane, aldrin, dieldrin and chlorophen were extensively used as plant protection products and pesticides all over the world. In the mid 1950s their negative properties became evident, e.g. their persistence and their high potetial for bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Moreover, some compounds are suspected to be carcinogenic and endocrine disruptive. As a consequence many industrial countries banned or restricted the use of organochloro pesticides in the 1970s.
A worldwide ban or restriction of the most hazardous organochloro pesticides followed when the Stockholm Convention and its amendment became effective in 2004 and 2009, respectively.

Substances

  • Fungicide which was mainly used in seed treatment and as wood and timber preservative
  • Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chlorinated organochlorine compound
  • Very effective insecticide that was widely used as contact and stomach poison for soil insects like termites, grasshoppers and beetles and for textile pests until the early 1970s
  • Persistent chlorinated hydrocarbon and effective biocide

Specimen

Sampling area

Sampling period

1982 - 2022