MONITORING THE WATER QUALITY FOR ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES IN THE AREA OF INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE ACTIVITY OF NAGPUR DISTRICT, INDIA

Green revolution reveals an increase in use of pesticides and fertilizers to meet the food demand of the increasing population. Pesticides have played a major role in achieving the maximum crop production but its accumulation is highly detrimental to the environment. The present study examines the residual contamination of surface water in the intensive agriculture areas, in view of amplified problem of pesticide pollution. Analysis was carried out to identify pesticides (OCPs) (e.g. aldrin, HCH, endosulphan, endosulphan sulfate, DDT, DDE, Dicofol), which are severely encountered in surface water of the agricultural region. Monitoring of (OCPs) pesticides in surface water was done periodically to arrive at the quality trends and to plan for the mitigation action. The analysis was carried following U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), 2012 as per Clean Water Act (CWA) using GC- Shimadzu with Electron Capture Detector (ECD). However, the residual levels of pesticides were found well below the maximum acceptable level of 1 ug/L (BIS) for drinking purpose in the study area. Though the residual levels of pesticides in the study area were well below the acute toxicological levels, the major concern is for long term, chronic exposure from compounds that may be carcinogenic.